±/03\  /te 


&,b* 


Bulletin  No.  105. 

{'.  s.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE, 

OFFICE    OF    EXPERIMENT    STATIONS, 
\  #A.   C.  TRUE,   Director. 

ibrimttion  lnvckti^atioiiH,  I<:I\v<mhI    tl«a«l,  I.v|mii  iii  C'harg 


443 


\ 


IliRKiATlON  HPTHE  bfTED  STATES. 


(Mil)  MEAD.  IRRIGATION  EXPERT 
EF0RE  THE  UNITED  STATES 
AL  COMMISSION  .II-. 
AND  12,  1901. 


Reprinted  from  Report  <>i    Fxited  Stat 
on  Agriculture  and  Agrictl 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING     OFFICE. 
1901. 


LIST  OF  PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE  OFFICE  OF  EXPERIMENT  STATIONS  ON 

IRRIGATION.1 

Bui.    3&  Notes  <»n  [rrigation  in  Connecticut  and  New  Jersey;     By  C.  S.  Phelps  and 

E.  I».  Voorhees.     Pp.  '>■*.     Price,  lOcente. 
Bui.    58.   Water  Rights  on  the  Missouri  River  and  its  Tributaries.     By^ElwoodMead. 

Pp.  80.      Price,   H)  cents. 

Bui.    60.  Alistract  of  Laws  for  Acquiring  Titles  to  Water  from  the  Missouri  River  and 

its  Tributaries,  with  the  Legal  Forms  in  Use.    Compiled  by  Elwood  Mead. 

Pp.  77.      Trice,  10  cents. 
Bui.    70.  Water-Righi  Problemsof  Bear  River.     By  Clarence  T.  Johnston  and  Joseph 

A.  Breckohs.     Pp.  40.      Price.  15  cents. 
Bui.    73.  Irrigation  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  States.     By  J.  C.  Ulrich.     Pp.64.     Price, 

10  cents. 
Bui.    81.  The  Use  of  Water  in  Irrigation  in  Wyoming.     By  B.  C.  Buffum.     Pp.  56. 

Price,  10  cents. 
Bui.     86.  The  Use  of  Water  in  Irrigation.     Report  of  investigations  made  in  1899, 

under  the  supervision  of  Elwood  Mead,  expert  in  charge,  and  C.  T.  John- 
ston, assistant.     Pp.  258.     Pride,  30  cents. 
Bui.    87.  Irrigation  in  New  Jersey.      By  Edward  B.  Voorhees.     Pp.  40.      Price,  5 

cents. 
Bul.    90.  Irrigation  in  Hawaii.     By  Walter  Maxwell.     Pp.  48.     Price,  10  cents. 
Bui.    92.  The  Reservoir  System  of  the  Cache  la  Poudre  Valley.     By  E.  S.  Nettleton. 

Pp.  48.     Price,  15  cents. 
Bul.    96.  Irrigation  Laws  of  the  Northwest  Territories  of  Canada  and  Wyoming,  with 

Discussions  by  J.   S.   Dennis,   Fred  Bond,  and  J.  M.  Wilson.     Pp.  90. 

Price,  10  cents. 
Bul.  100.  Report   of   Irrigation   Investigations  in  California  under  the  direction  of 

Elwood  Mead,  assisted  by  William  E.  Sniythe,  Marsden  Alanson,  J\  M. 

Wilson,  Charles  I).  Marx,  Frank  Soule,  C.  E.  Grunsky,  Edward  M.  Boggs, 

and  James  1).  Schuyler.     Pp.  111.     Price,  —  cents. 

FARMERS'    BULLETIN'S. 

Bul.    46.  Irrigation  in  Humid  Climates.     By  F.  H.  King.     Pp.  27. 
Bul.  116.  Irrigation  in  Fruit  Growing.     By  E.  J.  Wickson.     Pp.  48. 
But.  138.  Irrigation  in  Field  and  Garden.     By  E.  J.  Wickson.     Pp.  40. 


1  For  those  publications  to  which  a  price  is  affixed  application  should  be  made  to 
the  Superintendent  of  Documents.  Union  Building,  Washington,  D.  C,  the  officer 
designated  by  law  to  sell  Government  publications. 


U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agt.,  Bui.  105,  Office  of  Expt.  Stations.      Irrigation  Investigations 


Plate  I 


Z> 


Bulletin  No.  105.  443 

U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE, 

OFFICE    OF    EXPERIMENT    STATIONS, 

A.   C.   TRUE,    Direct.  »r. 

Irrigation  lit v<-*ti^nti<»ii*,  El  wood  Mead,  Expert  in  Charge* 


IRRIGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


TESTIMONY  OF  ELW00D  MEAD,  IRRIGATION  EXI 
IN  CHARGE,  BEFORE  THE  UNITED  STATES 
INDUSTRIAL  COMMISSION  JUNE 
11  AND  12,  1901. 


;rt 


Reprinted  from  Report  of  United  States  Industrial  Commission 
on  Agriculture  and  Agricultural  Labor. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE, 

1901. 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL 


TJ.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture, 

Office  of  Experiment  Station-. 
Washington,  I).  C,  October  10,  1901, 

SIR:  I  transmit  herewith  the  testimony  of  Prof.  Elwood  M< 
expert  in  charge  of  the  irrigation  investigations  of  this  Office,  before 
the  United  States  Industrial  Commission.  Professor  Mead  appeared 
before  the  commission  June  11  and  1:?,  1901,  to  testify  on  the  subject 
of  irrigation  in  the  United  States.  His  testimony  presents  a  review 
of  the  irrigation  situation  in  the  United  States,  including  not  only  the 
arid  region  of  the  West,  but  also  the  humid  sections  of  the  South  and 
East,  where  in  two  States  alone  more  land  lias  been  brought  under 
irrigation  during  the  past  five  years  than  in  any  single  State  in  the 
arid  region  during  the  same  period.  The  testimony  also  deals  briefly, 
but  in  some  detail,  with  the  practical  aspects  of  extending  public  aid 
to  irrigation,  either  through  the  State  or  national  governments.  The 
increased  importance  of  the  phases  of  the  irrigation  question  discussed 
in  the  testimony  as  issues  in  both  State  and  national  legislation  has 
created  a  considerable  demand  for  information  regarding  them,  and 
it  is  believed  that  the  republication  of  the  testimony  will  do  much  to 
supply  the  demand. 

Respectfully,  A.  C.  True, 

Director. 

Hon.  James  Wilson, 

Secretary  of  Agriculture, 
2 


CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Introduction . . . 5 

Beginnings  of  irrigation  in  the  United  States 7 

Importance  of  irrigation  in  the  United  States     . . 7 

Irrigation  in  the  United  States  the  result  of  private  enterprise  . .  . _. 8 

Evolution  of  water  laws  in  the  arid  region- .....  10 

Necessity  for  laws  governing  irrigation 10 

Importance  of  water  laws  not  at  first  appreciated 10 

Control  of  streams  left  to  States  by  National  Government 11 

Uncertainties  of  the  water  laws 12 

The  limitations  of  an  appropriation 12 

Conflicts  between  rights  of  appropriation  and  riparian  rights 12 

Establishment  of  titles  to  water. 13 

Colorado 13 

Wyoming 14 

Other  States 14 

Meaning  of  term  "  water  right,"  and  water-right  contracts 15 

Building  of  canals  and  distribution  of  water  .. 16 

Losses  of  water  by  seepage 17 

Filling  of  canals  by  silt  . _ . 21 

Controversies  over  titles  to  water 22 

Absence  of  public  protection  of  water  rights 22 

Excessive  appropriations  of  water ... ,  22 

Principles  governing  water  rights  in  Canada  and  Wyoming 25 

Storage  of  water  for  irrigation 26 

Reservoirs  in  the  West  private  property 26 

Storage  makes  public  control  necessary 27 

Irrigation  a  State  question... 29 

Leasing  of  the  public  grazing  lands , 30 

National  aid  extended  by  land  grants _ 31 

Cost  and  value  of  irrigation 32 

Products  of  the  arid  region 33 

National  aid  for  irrigation 35 

Interstate  water-right  complications 37 

Irrigation  in  the  humid  sections 38 

Filling  of  reservoirs  by  silt 41 

Appendix _  _ 43 

3 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PL  \TKS. 

Platk  I.  Parleys  Creek  Reservoir.  Utah Frontispiece. 

II.  Fig.  1 .  Dam  for  the  Otter  Creek  Canal.  Utah 

Fig.  2.  Dam  for  the  Beckwith  Canal,  Wyoming 

Fig.  8.  Dam  for  the  Wyman  aud  Irwin  canals,  Wyoming 

Fig.  4.  Dam  for  the  Bear  River  Canal.  Utah     . 

III.  Fig.  1.  Head  gate  o.  the  Consolidated  Canal  Company,  Arizona -. 
Fig.  2.  Division  gate  of  the  Consolidated  Canal  Company.  Arizona. 

IV.  Map  of   a  portion  o:  the  Cac'.e   la  Poudre  Val'ey.  showing  the 

exchange  of  water,  Colorad  >_____. _ .    . . 

V.  Fig.  1.  Bear  River  Canal,  looking  north,  showing  drop 

Fig.  2.  Iron  flume  across  Malad  River,  Bear  River  Canal 

VI.  Fig.  1.  Appearance  of  irrigation  canal  when  first  completed 

Fig.  2.  Appearance  of  irrigation  canal  ten  years  after  completion. 

VII.  Fig.  1 .  The  head  gates  of  an  Idaho  Canal 

Fig.  2.  Side-hill  construction  on  an  Idaho  Canal ... 

Fig.  3.  Irrigated  farm  in  Idaho 

VIII.  Fig.  1.  Head  of  Gage  Canal,  California 

Fig.  2.  Division  bulkhead  of  Gage  Canal,  California ... 

IX.  Fig.  1.  View  of  a  stock  ranch  at  Mesa,  Ariz  . .   

Fig.  2.  An  almond  orchard  in  Arizona 

X.  Artesian  wells,  head  of  Gage  Canal,  California  . .   

XI.  Map  of  Bear  River,  showing  location  of  ditches  and  irrigated  land. 

XII.  Fig.  1.  Waste  way.  Gageby  Arroyo,  Great  Plains  Water  Company. 

Fig.  2.  Outlet  Conduit  No.  2,  Great  Plains  Water  Company 

TEXT   FIGURE. 

Fig.  1.  Relation  between  the  mean  monthly  discharge  of  the  Poudre  River 
and  the  appropriations  therefrom 

4 


IRRIGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


INTRODUCTION. 

On  June  11,  1901,  the  United  States  Industrial  Commission  met  at 
Washington,  D.  C,  Vice-Chairman  Phillips  presiding.  Mr.  Elwood 
Mead,  expert  in  charge  of  the  Irrigation  Investigations  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  appeared  as  a  witness,  and  being 
duly  sworn  testified  as  follows: 

Q.  (By  Mr.  A.  L.  Harris.)  You  will  please  give  your  full  name, 
post-office  address,  and  yonr  occupation. — A.  Elwood  Mead ;  I  am  irri- 
gation expert  in  charge  of  the  Irrigation  Investigations  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture. 

Q.  What  State  are  you  a  native  of? — A.  Born  in  Indiana.  For  the 
past  eighteen  years  I  have  lived  in  Colorado  and  Wyoming;  for  the 
past  twelve  years,  Wyoming. 

Q.  How  long  have  you  made  this  subject  of  irrigation  a  stud}'? — A. 
Eighteen  years. 

Q.  How  long  have  you  been  with  the  Agricultural  Department? — 
A.  Three  years. 

Q.  Have  you  studied  the  subject  of  irrigation  in  connection  with 
agriculture  in  the  various  States  of  the  West,  and  I  might  say  of  the 
East  also? — A.  I  have. 

Q.  Have  you  a  written  statement  that  you  desire  to  present  to  the 
commission? — A.  If  you  desire  I  will  give  an  outline  of  my  connection 
with  irrigation.  I  went  from  Indiana  to  Colorado  in  1882  to  accept  a 
professorship  in  the  State  Agricultural  College.  Four  years  later  I 
became  the  professor  of  irrigation  engineering  in  that  college,  being 
the  first  professor  of  this  branch  of  engineering  in  this  country. 
Between  the  time  of  going  to  Colorado  and  my  acceptance  of  the  last- 
named  professorship,  I  was  employed  during  two  summer  vacations 
by  the  State  engineer  of  Colorado  to  make  official  measurements  of 
the  capacities  of  the  irrigation  ditches  of  the  State  having  adjudicated 
rights  to  water.  Colorado  was  the  first  of  the  arid  States  to  assume 
public  control  over  the  diversion  of  water  from  streams.  One  of  the 
first  necessities  of  the  legislation  providing  for  this  control  was  a  table 
showing  the  capacities  of  the  different  ditches  in  use,  and  the  meas- 
urements made  to  ascertain  these  capacities  were  the  first  of  such 
measurements  made.     After  two  years  of  employment  by  the  State 

5 


engineer  during  the  summer  months  I  became  assistanl  state  engi- 
neer, resigning  from  the  college,  bnl  returning  to  it  when  a  school  of 
irrigation  was  created  there.  In  L888  I  became  Territorial  engineer 
of  Wyoming,  and  continued  in  that  capacity  and  as  State  engineer 
after  Wyoming  became  a  state  until  1858.  In  L897  I  became  con- 
nected with  the  Irrigation  Investigations  of  the  Department  oi  Agri- 
cnltnre,  and  for  the  pasl  three  years  I  have  been  in  charge  of  these 
invest  igations. 

Q.  Have  yon  written  a  number  of  reports  that  have  been  issued  by 
the  Agricultural  Department? — A.  Since  coming  to  the  Department 
[have  had  charge  of  the  bulletins  issued  by  the  Department  with 
reference  to  irrigation,  of  which  the  following  is  a  list: 

PUBLICATIONS   OF   THE   OFFICE   OF   EXPERIMENT   STATIONS   ON   IRRIGATION. 

Bnl.  36:  Notes  on  Irrigation  in  Connecticut  and  New  Jersey.     By  C.  S.  Phelps. 

B.  S.,  and  Edward  B.  Voorhees.  M.  A.     Pp.  64. 
Bui.  58:  Water  Rights  on  the  Missouri  River  and  its  Tributaries.     By  Elwood  Mead. 

Pp.  80. 
Bui.  60:  Abstract  of  Laws  for  Acquiring  Titles  to  Water  from  the  Missouri  River 

and  its  Tributaries,  with  the  Legal  Forms  in  Use.     Compiled  by  Elwood  Mead. 

Pp.  77. 
Bui.  70:  Water-Right  Problems  of  Bear  River.     By  Clarence  T.  Johnston  and 

Joseph  A.  Breckons.     Pp.  40. 
Bnl.  73:  Irrigation  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  States.     By  J.  C.  Ulrich.     Pp.  04. 
Bui.  81:  The  Use  of  Water  in  Irrigation  in  Wyoming  and  its  Relation  to  the 

Ownership  and   Distribution  of    the    Natural    Supply.      By  B.  C.  Buffum. 

Pp.  56. 
Bui.  86:  The  Use  of  Water  in  Irrigation.     Report  of  investigations  made  in  1899 

under  the  supervision  of  Elwood  Mead,  expert  in  charge,  and  C.  T.  Johnston, 

assistant.     Pp.  253. 
Bui.  87:  Irrigation  in  New  Jersey.     By  Edward  B.  Voorhees.     Pp.  40. 
Bui.  90:  Irrigation  in  Hawaii.     By  Walter  Maxwell.     Pp.  48. 
Bui.  92:  The  Reservoir  System  of  the  Cache  la  Poudre  Valley.     By  E.  S.  Nettle- 
ton.     Pp.  48. 
Bui.  96:  Irrigation  Laws  of  the  Northwest  Territories  of  Canada  and  of  Wyoming, 

with  Discussion  by  I.  S.  Dennis.  Fred  Bond,  and  J.  M.  Wilson.     Pp.  90. 
Bui.  100:  Irrigation  Investigations  in  California,  under  direction  of  Elwood  Mead, 

assisted  by  William  E.  Srnythe,  Marsden  Manson.  J.  M.  Wilson.  Frank  Soule, 

Charles  D.  Marx,  C.  E.  Grunsky.  James  D.  Schuyler,  and  Edward  M.  Boggs. 

Pp.  411. 

farmers'  bulletins. 

Bui.  46:  Irrigation  in  Humid  Climates.     By  F.  H.  King. 

Bui.  116:  Irrigation  in  Fruit  Growing.     By  E.  J.  Wickson. 

Bui.  138:  Irrigation  in  Field  and  Garden.     By  E.  J.  Wickson.     Pp.  4C, 

SEPARATES. 

Rise  and  Future  of  Irrigation  in  the  United  States.     By  Elwood  Mead.     Yearbook 

of  Department  of  Agriculture  for  189!).     Pp.  25. 
Practical  Irrigation.     By  C.  T.  Johnston,  C.  E..  and  J.  D.  Stannard.     Yearbook  of 

Department  of  Agriculture  for  1900.     Pp.  22. 


BEGINNINGS  OF  IRRIGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Now,  [f  the  commission  desires,]  will  take  up  and  follow  the  gen- 
eral linos  of  the  summary  I  senl  you  yesterday,  and  I  will  take  up  the 
quest  ions  thai  seem  to  me  to  be  fundamental. 

We  are  accustomed  to  think  and  speak  of  irrigation  in  the  United 
States  as  being  of  recent  development.  Nothing  could  be  further 
from  the  truth.  In  many  parts  of  the  Southwest,  notably  in  northern 
New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  there  are  well-defined  remains  of  irrigation 
works  which  have  outlived  by  many  centuries  the  civilization  to  which 
they  belonged.  Near  Las  Cruces,  N".  Hex.,  is  an  irrigation  ditch 
which  has  an  unbroken  record  of  over  three  hundred  years  of  service. 
The  Spanish  settlers  along  the  Rio  Grande  were  irrigating  their  gar- 
dens seventy  years  before  the  settlement  at  Jamestown.  It  is  true, 
however,  thai  irrigation  by  English-speaking  people  is  only  about 
50  years  old.  For  its  beginnings  we  must  go  to  Utah,  where  the  little 
band  of  Mormon  emigrants  were  compelled  to  adopt  it  to  save  them- 
selves from  starvation.  It  was  twenty  years  after  the  beginnings  in 
Utah  that  irrigation  came  to  be  an  important  factor  in  the  growth  and 
settlement  of  Colorado  and  California.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that 
the  earlier  attempts  in  these  two  States  where  irrigation  has  assumed 
the  greatest  importance  were  made  at  the  same  time.  The  discovery 
of  gold  in  California  created  the  overland  trail  and  opened  the  great 
interior  valleys  of  the  arid  West  to  miners  and  stock  raisers.  At  the 
stage  stations  bordering  on  streams  and  in  the  vicinit}7  of  mining 
camps  men  without  any  knowledge  or  experience  built  small,  rude 
ditches  and  turned  water  on  the  thirsty  soil.  In  every  instance  work 
was  begun  without  apparent  consideration  of  future  necessities  and 
by  men  to  whom  the  whole  subject  was  strange  and  new.  It  is  only 
by  understanding  this  lack  of  direction  and  the  haphazard  methods 
which  prevailed  in  the  beginnings  of  our  age  that  we  can  understand 
the  present  situation. 

IMPORTANCE  OF  IRRIGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

There  are  few  countries  in  which  irrigation  is  destined  to  assume 
greater  importance  than  in  the  United  States.  Throughout  nearly 
all  that  portion  of  the  country  west  of  the  one  hundredth  meridian 
successful  agriculture  is  not  possible  without  it,  while  each  year  sees 
an  increase  in  its  use  east  of  that  meridian.  Leaving  out  of  consid- 
eration Alaska  and  the  recently  acquired  insular  possessions,  in  some 
of  which  irrigation  is  already  an  important  factor,  the  area  of  the 
United  States  east  of  the  one  hundredth  meridian  is  1,648,830  square 
miles.  West  of  that  meridian  there  are  1,433,849  square  miles.  Taking 
this  meridian  as  an  approximate  division  of  the  humid  and  arid  portions 
of  the  United  States,  they  stand  in  a  ratio  of  about  53  to  47.  The 
humid  portion  is,  however,  somewhat  larger  than  this.     There  is  a 


8 

narrow  strip  of  well-watered  territory  along  a  part  of  the  Pacific  coast, 
and  scattered  throughout  tin- arid  region  are  relatively  small  areas 
with  a  rainfall  considerably  above  that  of  the  surrounding  country, 
and  where  crops  can  be  grown  without  irrigation.  Making  the  one 
hundredth  meridian  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  arid  region  is  also 
purely  arbitrary.  The  decrease  in  moist  ore  begins  50(  i  miles  east  of  the 
Rocky  .Mountains,  and  gradually  but  irregularly  increases  as  they  are 
approached.  Taking  into  consideration  these  minor  modification 
(he  rough  division  changes  the  percentage  of  humid  to  arid  land  to  a 
ratio  of  about  60  to  40. 

Wit  Inn  the  limits  of  the  arid  region  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
irrigation  is  the  basis  of  civilized  life.  In  many  of  the  arid  States  the 
value  of  the  crops  grown  by  irrigation  exceeds  the  output  of  the  mine 
or  tic  profits  of  the  factory.  Not  only  is  this  true,  but  the  cheap  and 
abundant  food  supply  which  irrigation  has  provided  has  made  possi- 
ble the  operation  of  many  mines  and  the  development  of  important 
industries  which  would  have  been  impossible  if  the  food  supplies  of 
their  operatives  had  all  to  be  shipped  in  from  the  farms  of  the  humid 
East.  The  influence  which  irrigation  has  exerted  in  beautifying  the 
landscapes  of  the  watered  areas  of  the  arid  West,  in  lessening  the 
dust  and  discomfort,  and  rendering  life  more  healthful  and  attract- 
ive, must  not  be  lost  sight  of.  The  oases  of  fruit  and  foliage  and  the 
marvelous  beauty  of  the  gardens  and  orchards  of  southern  California 
have  done  as  much  to  fill  the  transcontinental  trains  from  the  East 
with  health  ami  pleasure  seekers  as  has  the  healthful  and  enjoyable 
climate  of  that  region.  Nor  does  this  statement  apply  to  California 
any  more  than  to  the  business  centers  of  the  other  arid  States.  The 
cities  of  Phoenix,  Reno,  Boise,  Salt  Lake,  and  Denver  are  almost  as 
much  the  creation  of  irrigation  as  the  farms  and  orchards  which  sur- 
round them. 

IRRIGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES   THE  RESULT   OF  PRIVATE 

ENTERPRISE. 

Irrigation  in  the  United  States  differs  from  irrigation  in  nearly  all 
other  irrigated  countries  in  one  important  particular.  In  Italy, 
France,  Egypt,  India,  and  even  in  Australia,  many  of  the  important 
irrigation  works  have  been  built  by  the  Government  and  owned  and 
protected  as  public  works.  In  the  United  States,  on  the  other  hand, 
every  canal  in  operation  and,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  every  reser- 
voir used  in  irrigation,  is  owned  and  protected  as  private  works. 
Neither  the  several  States  nor  the  General  Government  have  as  yet 
entered  into  the  work  of  ditch  or  reservoir  building.  Colorado  has 
built  tw<»  or  three  reservoirs  with  State  funds  and  begun  one  canal,  but, 
outside  of  this,  investments  of  $200,000,000  or  more  to  provide  water 
for  the  cultivated  lands  of  the  arid  West  have  come  from  private  funds. 
Whatever  has  been  done  in  the  way  of  overcoming  physical  obstacles, 


U.  S    Dept.  of  Agr.,  Bui.  105,  Office  of  Expt.  Stations.      Irrigation  Investigations. 


Plate  II. 


the  building  of  dams  to  control  mountain  torrents,  the  aqueducts  which 
follow  the  precipitous  sides  of  mountain  canyons,  the  thousands  of 
smaller  ditches,  ami  the  hundreds  of  important  canals,  together  with 
the  immense  out  lay  of  money  and  toil  required  to  put  arid  land  in  con- 
dition for  the  distribution  of  water,  have  all  come  as  the  resull  of  the 
outlay  and  effort  of  individual  companies  and  corporations. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  this  development  lias  been  left  to  private 
enterprise,  there  lias  been  a  delay  in  the  enactment  of  laws  required  to 
protect  irrigation  investments  and  to  secure  to  the  water  user  bis 
proper  share  of  the  stream  along  which  he  lives.  In  countries  where 
canals  are  buiH  with  public  funds,  adequate  laws  for  governing  the 
division  of  a  stream  which  tills  them  receive  early  attention,  and  the 
leading  consideration  in  the  location  of  these  public  works  is  a  con- 
servation of  the  water  supply  and  its  use  on  the  best  land.  In  the 
United  states,  on  the  contrary,  tin1  building  of  ditches  and  tie-  re- 
claiming of  land  being  a  private  matter,  public  considerations  have 
received  but  little  attention  in  the  location  of  works  or  in  the  enact- 
ment of  laws  to  determine  rights  to  streams.  The  amount  of  money 
which  the  individual  company  projecting  irrigation  works  had  was  the 
controlling  consideration  in  the  location  of  canals  and  ditches.  A-  a 
rule,  tin-  places  where  ditches  could  be  built  at  the  least  cost  were 
first  selected.  Where  these  favorable  locations  have  been  utilized, 
larger  and  costlier  works  have  been  undertaken;  and  after  the  nat- 
ural How  of  streams  has  been  absorbed,  there  has  followed  a  natural 
construction  of  reservoirs  to  store  the  flood  waters  and  the  waters 
which  run  to  waste  during  the  season  when  water  is  not  required  in 
irrigation.  In  States  having  a  favorable  climate,  like  California,  or 
people  of  exceptional  enterprise,  as  in  Colorado,  or  where  there  lias 
been  from  the  first  a  large  local  demand  for  farm  products,  owing  to 
the  proximity  of  mines,  irrigation  has  developed  more  rapidly  than  in 
States  where  the  demand  for  irrigated  products  or  the  price  received 
for  them  has  not  been  so  favorable.  Utah  has  more  cultivated  land 
than  Montana,  although  the  area  susceptible  of  irrigation  in  Montana 
is  many  times  that  of  Utah. 

It  is  probable  that  if  canals  had  been  built  as  public  works  the 
leading  consideration  would  have  been  an  abundance  of  water  supply, 
but  being  private  works  the  leading  consideration  has  been  the  cheap- 
ness with  which  ditches  could  be  built  and  the  profit  with  which  the 
rights  in  these  ditches  could  be  disposed  of.  Because  of  this  there 
are  many  streams  in  the  West  where  the  natural  flow  has  already 
been  fully  utilized.  The  ditches  ami  canals  which  take  water  from 
the  Arkansas  River  in  Colorado  and  Kansas  cover  more  land  than  the 
stream  can  be  made  to  irrigate  if  every  available  reservoir  site  along 
the  stream  is  improved,  and  all  the  water  which  can  be  is  utilized. 
The  canals  which  divert  the  South  Platte  River  in  Colorado  and 
Nebraska  cover  all  the  land  which  that  stream  can  be  made  to  irri- 


10 

gate.  Ob  hundreds  of  streams  in  the  various  arid  States  and  Territo- 
ries the  capacity  of  the  canals  and  ditches  already  built  is  fully  equal 
to  the  water  supply.  In  some  eases  there  are  more  ditches  than 
can  be  filled,  and  the  people  who  depend  on  them  suffer  from  drought 
as  severely  as  do  the  people  who  depend  on  rain.  As  a  rule,  all  the 
land  which  can  he  cheaply  irrigated  is  now  either  being  irrigated  or 
is  owned  by  parties  who  intend  to  irrigate  it,  and  the  streams  which 
can  be  easily  diverted  will  require  reservoirs  to  make  a  further  exten- 
sion o!  the  cultivated  area  safe  and  profitable;  nevertheless  there  is 
a  large  field  for  future  development.  The  larger  rivers  of  the  arid 
region,  like  the  .Missouri,  Big  Horn,  Snake,  Rio  Grande,  Green,  and  Sac- 
ramento, are  as  yet  almost  undiminished  in  flow.  The  reason  for  this 
is  t  hat  the  cost  of  works  to  utilize  them  has  been  too  great.  In  many 
eases  this  cost  will  for  years  to  come  be  beyond  the  reach  of  private 
enterprise  or  beyond  the  hope  of  any  profitable  return  if  undertaken 
as  private  enterprises,  and  this  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  State  or 
national  aid  is  regarded  as  a  necessity,  or,  if  not  a  necessity,  as  a  wise 
public  policy  for  the  country  to  adopt. 

EVOLUTION  OF  WATER  LAWS  IN  THE  ARID  REGION. 

NECESSITY  FOR  LAWS  GOVERNING  IRRIGATION. 

Wherever  irrigation  is  necessary,  laws  for  the  regulation  and  con- 
trol of  streams  must  be  enacted  if  development  is  to  be  peaceful  and 
prosperous.  It  is  just  as  necessary  for  the  farmer  to  know  who  owns 
the  water  he  uses  as  it  is  for  him  to  know  that  he  has  title  to  the  land 
that  he  cultivates.  In  the  arid  region  of  the  United  States  the  char- 
acter of  titles  to  water  has  an  especial  importance,  because  of  the 
scarcity  of  the  supply.  With  very  few  exceptions,  there  is  more  irri- 
table land  along  the  river  than  the  stream  will  serve.  Hence  whoever 
controls  the  stream  practically  controls  the  land  on  which  it  is  used, 
because  he  can  dictate  what  land  shall  be  made  productive  and  what 
land  must  remain  forever  arid  and  almost  worthless. 

IMPORTANCE  OF  WATER  LAWS  NOT  AT  FIRST  APPRECIATED. 

The  importance  of  adequate  water  laws  was  not  appreciated  at  the 
outset.  There  were  many  reasons  for  this.  In  the  beginning  nearly 
everyone's  attention  was  given  to  the  overcoming  of  physical  obsta- 
cles. The  Mormons  at  City  Creek,  in  Utah,  could  not  wait  for  the 
passage  of  irrigation  laws.  They  had  to  divert  and  use  the  stream 
to  keep  from  starving  to  death.  The  settlers  at  Greeley,  Colo.,  had 
first  of  all  to  learn  how  to  build  and  operate  ditches.  With  their  set- 
t  lenient  came  the  grasshopper  plague,  and  between  this  and  the 
contest  with  breaking  ditches,  the  improvement  of  fields,  and  the 
raising  of  money  to  make  needed  repairs  and  improvements,  it  was 
nine  years  before  they  began  to  study  seriously  how  they  were  to  pro- 
tect their  right  to  take  water.      In  California  millions  of  dollars  had 


U    S  Dept.  of  Agr.,  Bui.  105,  Office  of  Expt.  Stations.     Irrigation  Investigations 


Plate  III. 


Fig.  1.— Headgate  of  the  Consolidated  Canal  Company,  Arizona. 


Fig.  2.— Division  Gate  of  the  Consolidated  Canal  Company,  Arizona. 


11 

been  invested  in  canals  before  the  controversy  arose  over  riparian 
rights. 

There  arc  other  reasons  for  the  delay  in  providing  adequate  laws 
for  the  protection  of  irrigators'  rights  to  water.  .Many  of  the  stales 
interested  in  irrigation  Lie  partly  within  the  arid  and  partly  within 
ili.  humid  region.  In  every  case  the  humid  portions  were  first  set- 
tled1, and  the  first  inhabitants  framed  the  earlier  laws.  The  impor- 
tance of  irrigation  was  not  realized  and  do  provision  made  for  its 
future  development.  In  many  of  the  arid  Stales  mining  and  the 
range-stock  industries  preceded  irrigation,  and  the  men  engaged  in 
these  industries,  together  with  the  people  in  the  cities,  framed  the 
earlier  laws.  Even  among  irrigators  themselves  it  was  a  long  time 
before  the  difference  between  the  institutions  of  arid  and  humid 
lands  was  realized.  The  prevailing  idea  of  everybody  in  the  early 
settlement  was  that  they  were  to  create  communities  which  would  be 
the  counterparts  of  those  they  had  left  in  the  East.  Although  they 
realized  the  importance  of  water  and  their  dependence  on  the  stream 
which  irrigated  their  farms,  the  early  settlers  as  a  rule  opposed  any 
legislation  which  would  restrict  or  define  their  rights  or  which  would 
make  rivers  public  property  and  provide  for  their  orderly  and  syste- 
matic disposal,  as  is  done  with  public  land.  It  was  not  until  the 
increased  use  and  growing  scarcity  of  water  began  to  rob  some  of  the 
lower  ditches  along  streams  that  any  headway  could  be  made  in  over- 
coming this  opposition  and  indifference  through  needed  legislation. 
But  as  ditches  multiplied  it  began  to  be  seen  that  when  the  demand 
for  water  was  greater  than  the  supply  those  at  the  head  of  a  stream 
could  take  all  the  water  there  was,  while  those  lower  down,  unless 
protected  by  law,  must  see  their  fields  parch  and  their  crops  wither 
whenever  the  stream  ran  low.  It  was  the  fact  that  the  ditches  of  the 
Greeley  colony  were  on  the  lower  end  of  the  stream  which  furnished 
their  water  suppl\~,  and  that  they  were  robbed  by  ditches  built  later, 
but  located  farther  up  the  stream. 

In  the  early  days  of  Utah  there  was  no  need  of  any  legislation, 
because  the  people  were  all  practically  of  one  faith  and  their  religious 
advisers  were  also  their  directors  in  temporal  affairs,  which  included 
among  other  things  the  settlement  of  quarrels  over  water.  But  in 
recent  years  litigation  has  been  a  conspicuous  feature  of  irrigation 
development  in  Utah,  and  no  State  has  a  greater  need  of  an  enlight- 
ened code  of  water  laws. 

CONTROL    OF    STREAMS    LEFT    TO    STATES    BY    NATIONAL    GOV- 
ERNMENT. 

Without  going  into  the  details  of  the  evolution  of  water  laws  in 
the  different  States,  it  may  be  said  that  each  State  and  Territory  of 
the  arid  regions  has  enacted  more  or  less  legislation  governing  the  use 
of  water  in  irrigation,  and  in  each  of  the  States  the  statute  law  has 
been   supplemented  by  numerous   and    important   court  decisions. 


12 

Whatever  control  is  exercised  at  the  present  time  is  exercised  by  the 
States  and  Territories  and  not  by  the  General  Government.  The  lat- 
ter in  L866  passed  a  law  recognizing  local  laws  and  customs  with  rela* 
tion  to  mining  and  irrigation,  and  since  that  time  has  not  interfered 
with  theenactmenl  or  enforcement  of  whatever  system  the  States  and 
Territories  have  seen  lit  to  adopt.  The  situation  thus  created  is  of 
the  highest  significance  in  determining  what  the  Government  ought 
t<>  do  in  the  t'ni ore  and  its  importance  ought  always  to  be  rec< ionized. 

UNCERTAINTIES  OF  THE  WATER  LAWS. 
THE    LIMITATIONS    OF    AX   APPROPRIATION. 

Tin*  laws  and  decisions  of  the  States  and  Territories  have  apparently 

settled  certain  issues  with  respect  to  the  use  of  streams  in  irrigation, 
while  others  equally  important  are  as  yet  involved  in  doubt  and  eon- 
troversy.  One  of  the  issues  settled  is  that  thefirst  appropriator f rom 
a  stream  has  the  first  right  to  its  water,  and  that  the  rights  of  subse- 
quent appropriators  follow  in  order.  Another  doctrine  almost  uni- 
versally recognized,  in  theory  if  not  in  practice,  is  that  all  rights  must 
be  based  on  the  actual  beneficial  use  of  the  water.  Among  the  ques- 
tions  in  dispute,  the  limitations  of  an  appropriation  take  first  rank, 
and  about  this  there  is  wide  difference  of  opinion  and  of  law.  In 
some  >iaie>  and  Territories  water  is  regarded  as  personal  property. 
Tie-  owner  of  it  can  rent  it  or  sell  it  just  as  he  would  a  horse  or  a  cow. 
His  appropriation  is  not  attached  to  any  particular  tract  of  land,  nor 
to  the  dit eh  through  which  it  was  nominally  first  diverted.  In  some 
States  water  rights  are  held  to  be  attached  to  the  land,  and  the  volume 
of  the  appropriations  is  limited  to  the  nece>sities  of  the  land. 

The  conflicting  views  regarding  the  nature  of  a  water  right  are 
Largely  due  to  the  different  methods  employed  in  constructing  ditches. 
Where  ditches  are  small  and  the  same  individual  owns  the  land  on 
whi.-h  tie-  water  is  used  and  the  ditch  which  diverts  it,  the  tendency 
is  to  favor  the  union  of  land  and  water.  But  on  many  streams  cor- 
porations have  built  large  and  costly  works  in  advance  of  settlement 
to  supply  lands  they  did  not  own  and  never  expected  to  own.  Under 
such  conditions  the  natural  tendency  has  been  to  favor  a  doctrine 
which  would  make  the  owners  of  the  works  the  appropriators  of  the 
stream  and  to  give  them  the  greatest  possible  freedom  in  disposing  of 
the  water  supply  to  users  when  the  lands  below  the  canal  were  brought 
under  cultivation. 

CONFLICT    BETWEEN    RIGHTS    OF    APPROPRIATION    AND    RIPARIAN- 
RIGHTS. 

A  not  hei-  troublesome  problem  in  many  of  the  Western  States  has 
grown  out  of  the  conflict  between  the  rights  of  appropriators  of  water 
under  State  laws  and  the  rights  of  riparian  proprietors,  as  recognized 
by   State    constitutions.      In    Colorado,    Wyoming,    Montana,   Idaho, 


13 

Utah,  Nevada,  and  in  the  Territories  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona, 
riparian  rights  have  been  abrogated,  but  in  California, Washington, 
Oregon,  the  two  Dakotas,  and  Nebraska  the  constitution  recognizes 
the  common-law  doctrine  of   riparian    rights,   which  requires   that 

streams  must  (low  undiminished  in  volume.  These  States  have 
since  passed  laws  which  permil  irrigators  to  appropriate  and  divert 
the  entire  supply  until  it  is  an  open  question  which  of  these  two  con- 
flict ing  policies  prevails.  It  will  hardly  be  wise  for  either  the  State 
or  the  General  Government  to  extend  any  considerable  aid  while 
whatever  is  done  by  private  enterprise  will  be  attended  by  so  much 
hazard  as  to  make  development  comparatively  slow  and  uncertain. 
1  For  several  years  past  none  of  the  arid  States  has  had  a  more  rapid 
growth  than  Nebraska.  Many  large  canals  have  been  built,  and  a 
large  acreage  of  land  in  the  western  part  of  the  State  broughl  under 
cultivation.  This  was  due  in  part  to  favoring  natural  conditions,  but 
more  largely  to  a  very  excellent  law  providing  for  the  systematic 
recording  of  water  appropriators'  rights  and  their  legal  recognition 
when  the  water  had  been  used.  All  this  has  been  changed  by  a  recent 
decision  of  the  supreme  court,  declaring  the  common-law  doctrine  of 
riparian  rights  to  be  the  law  in  thai  State.  If  this  is  true,  then  every 
diversion  of  water  is  illegal.  No  one  knows  what  is  to  he  the  result. 
Irrigators  are  tearful  and  investors  in  canals  greatly  alarmed.  There 
seems  to  "be  reason  for  this  feeling,  as  the  millers  of  Nebraska,  some 
fifty  in  number, -at  their  meeting  last  week,  perfected  an  organization 
under  which  they  are  to  institute  lawsuits  to  enforce  the  recent  deci- 
sion of  the  supreme  court,  and  close  up  the  irrigation  canals  that  are 
depleting  the  streams. 

In  Kansas  the  statute  law  recognizes  the  doctrine  of  riparian  rights 
east  of  the  ninety-seventh  meridian,  and  the  doctrine  of  appropria- 
tion west  of  it.  This  seems  to  be  a  sensible  arrangement,  although  it 
sounds  rather  arbitrary  to  say  that  west  of  an  imaginary  line  all  the 
water  of  a  river  may  be  used,  while  a  few  feet  away  to  the  east  of  it 
none  may  be  diverted. 

ESTABLISHMENT  OF  TITLES  TO  WATEE. 

COLORADO. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  nature  of  a  water  right  is  the  method  by 
which  it  is  established.  To  Colorado  is  entitled  the  credit  of  passing 
the  first  law  on  this  subject.  It  gives  to  each  claimant  of  water  the 
right  to  inaugurate  in  court  a  procedure  under  which  all  claimants 
to  the  same  supply  can  be  compelled  to  come  into  court  and  have  the 
relative  priorities  and  amounts  adjudicated.  After  this  has  been 
done  the  Colorado  law  provides  that  the  streams  shall  be  under  public 
control,  and  the  State  officer  known  as  a  water  commissioner  shall  in 
times  of  scarcity  divide  the  water  among  the  holders  of  these  adjudi- 
cated rights. 


14 

WYOMING. 

It  can  Bcarcelybe  doubted  that  there  should  have  been  provided  at 
the  outeel  some  orderly  tribunal  which  would  have  managed  and  dis- 
posed of  the  water  <»t*  streams,  as  the  General  Government  has  sur- 
veyed, cared  for,  and  disposed  of  the  public  lands,  [f  thai  liad  been 
done,  records  of  claims  and  appropriations  would  have  been  complete 
and  accurate,  and  1 1 1  *  *  dangerwhieh  now  threatens  us  of  excessive 
and  speculative  appropriations  would  have  been  averted  without 
injury  to  anyone,  and  with  less  cosl  in  administration  than  has  been 
necessary  to  carry  on  the  litigation  in  the  courts.  The  experience  of 
Wyoming  with  such  a  tribunal  has  fully  supported  this*  conclusion. 
In  Wyoming  the  waters  of  streams  are  public  property.  This  property 
is  managed  by  special  tribunal.  Every  intending  user  of  water  must 
secure  from  tins  tribunal  a  permit.  Where  all  of  the  water  of  a 
stream  is  appropriated,  permits  are  refused,  because  additional 
ditches  would  not  mean  the  cultivation  of  more  land,  while  they  might 
mean  controversy  with  other  ditches  or  the  lessening  of  the  rightful 
water  supply  of  prior  appropriators.  This  law  lias  been  in  force  for  ten 
years.  Under  it  the  rights  of  over  4,000  appropriators  have  been 
established  without  litigation  or  controversy,  and  these  rights  are 
recognized  as  having  nearly  the  same  stability  as  patents  to  public 
land. 

OTHER  STATES. 

In  many  of  the  States  and  Territories  there  is  no  orderly  procedure 
for  the  settlement  of  the  rights  of  all  irrigators  to  a  stream  at  one 
time.  In  these  States,  whenever  the  ditches  at  the  head  of  a  stream 
rob  the  ditches  below,  controversies  are  sure  to  arise.  If  the  irriga- 
tors below  are  lawless  or  impulsive,  raids  to  tear  out  the  dams  and 
headgates  above  are  likely  to  result.  But  among  law-abiding  water 
users  the  only  remedy  is  an  appeal  to  the  courts,  which  stand  as 
the  sole  tribunal  between  injustice  and  violence.  The  objection  to 
this  court  litigation  is  that  it  is  exceedingly  costly  and  apparently 
unending.  A  lawsuit  of  one  ditch  owner  against  another  may  settle 
the  isMi«->  between  those  two  parties,  but  it  can  not  be  made  to  apply 
to  the  ditch  owners  and  irrigators  not  made  a  party  to  the  suit.  It 
too  often  happens,  therefore,  that  litigation,  instead  of  settling  con- 
troversies, only  serve-  to  create  new  issues,  which,  in  turn,  have  to 
be  litigated.  In  one  case  in  California  ''A'1  brought  suit  against  "B,w 
and  was  decreed  to  have  the  first  right  to  the  water  of  a  stream.  k'B" 
then  brought  suil  against  "  ('."  and  was  declared  to  have  a  better  right 
than  ••(  '."  Then  "C"  saw  there  were  superior  rights  to  his,  and  he 
made  adequate  preparation  and  gathered  his  witnesses  and  all  the 
information  he  could  and  brought  suit  against  "A,"  while  "A,"  rely- 
ing upon  the  fact  that  there  had  been  a  judgment  in  his  favor  already, 
put  up  a  weak  defense,  and  "C"  was  decreed  to  have  a  superior  right 


15 

to  "A,"  and  "A"  was  enjoined  from  interfering  with  "CVuseof  the 
river,  and  all  parlies  were  back  ai  the  beginning  again.  That  is  not 
an  isolated  instance;  on  the  contrary,  it-  is  a  typical  instance  of  the 
lit  igation  over  water. 

MEANING  OF  TERM  "  WATER  RIGHT  "  AND  WATER-RIGHT 

CONTRACTS. 

This  is  a  brief  and  imperfect  outline  of  the  methods  by  which  the 
st  reams  used  in  irrigation  have  been  appropriated  and  the  rights  to 

their  waters  established;  but  the  term  "water right"  lias  also  another 
meaning.  Many  of  the  appropriations  to  Large  ditches  and  canals 
carry  volumes  of  water  sufficient  to  irrigate  anywhere  from  100  to 
500  farms.  The  owners  of  farms  along  these  canals  purchase  from 
the  holder  of  the  appropriation  what  is  also  called  a  water  right. 
The  limitations  of  the  water  right  of  the  canal  owner  are  fixed  by  law, 
while  the  limitations  of- the  water  right  of  the  irrigator  are  fixed  by 
the  terms  of  his  contract  with  the  canal  owner.  As  a  rule,  the  two 
water  rights  have  no  resemblance  to  each  other.  The  right  of  the 
canal  owner  gives  him  a  continuous  flow  of  the  volume  appropriated, 
with  the  right  to  dispose  of  it  to  whomsoever  he  pleases,  and  with  no 
restrictions  as  to  the  means  of  diversion  or  place  of  use.  The  water- 
right  contract  under  which  irrigators  usually  obtain  their  supply  only 
gives  them  a  right  to  water  during  the  irrigation  season.  This  right 
is  not  to  a  continuous  flow,  but  is  to  vary  with  the  irrigators'  necessities. 
Instead  of  the  place  of  diversion  and  use  being  unrestricted,  both  are 
defined  in  the  contract.  If  the  commission  desires  it,  I  will  submit  a 
number  of  blank  water-right  contracts  of  the  form  used  by  ditch  com- 
panies in  disposing  of  water  for  irrigation,  as  they  illustrate  the  con- 
ditions  which  govern  the  growing  commerce  in  water. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Phillips.)  Are  there  different  contracts  in  different 
States?— A.  Yes;  the  Irrigation  Investigation  of  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  has  about  500  of  these  contracts  altogether. 

Q.  All  different  kinds  of  contracts? — A.  They  are  all  contracts  of 
different  companies,  but  a  majority  of  them  are  essentially  alike  in 
their  conditions.  Out  of  this  collection  I  will  submit  to  you  a  half 
dozen  or  more.  These  contracts  fix  the  conditions  of  the  traffic  in 
water,  the  conditions  on  which  the  users  receive  it,  and  its  value. 
Decrees  give  the  water  to  the  canals,  and  the  canals  sell  the  water 
represented  by  those  decrees.  Some  of  the  contracts  are  of  a  dual 
nature;  they  provide  a  charge  for  the  right  to  the  water  itself,  and 
also  a  charge  for  the  service  rendered  in  the  delivery  of  the  water  by 
the  company.  Some  of  them  are  of  a  character  that  contemplates  the 
eventual  transfer  of  the  works  and  of  the  appropriation  to  the  pur- 
chasers of  these  contracts.  Now,  I  will  give  some  details  regarding 
the  prices  of  water  rights.     I  will  submit  as  samples  of  water-right 


16 

contracts,  three  from  Colorado,  one  from  California,  and  one  froml 
New  Mexico. 

BUILDING  OF  CANALS  AND  DISTRIBUTION  OF  WATER. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Letchman.)  We  would  like  some  description  at  some 
point  in  your  statement  of  the  manner  of  constructing  these  ditches, — 
A.  Permit  me  to  submit  the  map  in  Bulletin  92,  showing  the  canals 
taking  water  from  the  Poudre  River,  in  Colorado.  It  will  be  seen  by 
examining  this  map  that  each  of  these  ditches  receives  water  from  the 
stream  and  in  this  way  covers  a  considerable  area  of  land  between 
tin-  canal  and  the  riveror  between  it  ami  the  canal  next  below.  This 
is  made  possible  by  the  topography  of  the  country.  The  map  shows 
a  canal  system  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  From  the  eastern  base 
of  this  range  for  nearly  500  miles  the  country  has  a  slope  varying  from 
25  feet  to  the  mile  near  the  foothills  to  4  or  5  feet  to  the  mile  as  it 
nears  the  Missouri  River.  Denver  has  an  elevation  of  5,250  feet 
above  sea  level.  Omaha  is  nearly  4,000  feet  lower.  The  intervening 
country  is  so  free  from  hills  or  broken  and  irregular  slopes  that  it 
would  be  possible  to  build  a  canal  to  reach  from  one  city  to  the  other 
and  to  water  the  intervening  country,  if  there  were  water  enough  to 
supply  it.  In  a  general  way  the  country  slopes  away  from  the  base 
of  the  mountains,  and  canals  can  be  built  to  take  water  from  the 
streams  as  they  flow  away  from  the  mountains  and  distribute  it  by 
gravity  overall  of  the  country  suited  to  irrigation.  Bear  River,  in 
Utah,  for  a  mile  below  the  head  of  the  Bear  River  Canal,  has  a  fall 
of  12<»  feet.  The  canal  in  that  distance  has  a  fall  of  4  feet.  Hence 
the  bed  of  the  canal  is  1  Hi  feet  above  the  stream  at  the  end  of  that 
distance,  a  sufficient  elevation  to  permit  of  the  watering  of  the  jdateau, 
embracing  nearly  100,000  acres  of  land.  The  river  shown  in  the  map 
(the  Poudre)  has  a  fall  of  25  feet  to  the  mile;  the  canals  shown  have 
each  a  fall  of  about  2  feet  to  the  mile,  so  that  for  each  mile  of  canal 
through  which  the  water  pas>es  there  is  a  gain  of  20  feet  or  more  in 
elevation  above  the  river.  In  using  the  water  it  is  turned  from  these 
canal>  and  ditches  on  the  lower  side  and  distributed  by  gravity  over 
the  fields  below.  The  methods  of  distribution  vary  with  different 
crops  and  in  different  sections  of  the  country.  Where  crops  are  cul- 
tivated water  is  run  down  furrows.  Furrow  irrigation  is  now  the 
method  generally  employed  in  the  irrigation  of  orchards.  Small  grain 
and  native  and  cultivated  hay  are  usually  irrigated  by  flooding,  which 
means  that  the  water  is  spread  over  the  entire  surface. 

The  map  of  the  canals  taking  water  from  the  Poudre  shows  by  the 
different  shading  the  area  irrigated  by  each.  The  first  of  the  larger 
ditches  to  be  built  has  its  irrigated  area  indicated  by  diagonal  lines: 
the  next    is   on   the  opposite  side  of  the  river.     These  two  are   the 

1  The  contracts  referred  to  are  on  file  with  the  Industrial  Commission.  Two 
typical  contracts  are  set  out  in  full  in  the  Appendix  hereto. 


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17 

Greeley  Colony  canals,  and  they  were  buill  at  the  lower  end  of  the 
stream  because  there  were  fewer  obstacles  there.  Later  the  canals 
farther  up  the  stream  were  built,  and  as  they  took  more  and  more 
water  from  i  h<-  si  ream  I  bey  lessened  i  be  supply  which  ran  down  to  t  be 
older  ditches  below.     (See  PL  IV.) 

LOSSES  OF  WATER  BY  SEEPAGE. 

En  all  of  the  Wesl  excepl  southern  California  irrigation  ditches  and 
canals  are  unlined.  The  soil  over  which  the  water  passes  is  expected 
to  retain  it  In  its  channel;  bu1  there  are  cases  where  il  fails  to  do  this 
and  the  Losses  from  seepage  and  percolation  are  excessive.  Where 
canals  cross  si  rata  of  coarse  gravel,  or  where  there  are  gypsum  depos- 
its, the  losses  from  this  cause  are  very  great.  In  one  instance  the 
measurements  of  the  Irrigation  Investigation  of  the  Agricultural 
Department  showed  a  loss  in  a  canal  of  75  per  cent  of  its  entire  sup- 
ply in  a  distance  of  less  than  a  mile  The  following,  taken  from  the 
report  of  these  investigations  for  1899,1  shows  the  extent  and  charac- 
ter of  these  losses  over  a  widely  distributed  area: 

In  practice  the  losses  iu  canals  from  percolation,  leakage  of  flumes,  evaporation, 
etc. .  are  an  important  factor  in  fixing  the  average  duty  of  water  from  a  river  or 
an  extensive  canal  system.  To  determine  this  average  duty  the  volume  should  be 
measured  at  the  headgate,  and  the  acres  it  irrigates  is  the  duty  which  canal  man- 
agers have  to  consider  in  determining  the  area  their  works  will  irrigate.  This 
duty  is  much  lower  than  that  obtained  by  measurements  made  on  laterals  or  at 
the  margins  of  the  fields  where  used,  the  influence  ot  the  losses  between  the  head- 
gate  and  the  heads  of  laterals  being  greater  than  has  usually  been  supposed. 
Where  canals  cross  gravel  beds  or  gypsum  deposits  the  results  closely  resemble 
trying  to  carry  water  in  a  sieve.  The  following  table  gives  the  number  of  acre- 
feet  used  in  the  irrigation  of  an -acre  of  land  where  the  measurements  were  made 
at  the  canal  headgates,  and  include  the  loss  from  seepage  and  evaporation: 

Duty  of  water  when  losses  in  main  canals  an  included. 

Xante  of  canal.  A<re-feet. 

Pecos  Canal ,  New  Mexico 6. 01 

Mesa  Canal.  Arizona  - 3.81 

Butler  Ditch,  Utah 6.34 

Brown  and  Sanford  Ditch  Utah 

Upper  Canal.  Utah ' 

Amity  Canal.  Colorado -. |  4.92 

Rust  Lateral,  Idaho -.  5.08 


Average - 5.47 

A  comparison  of  the  duties  in  the  above  table  with  those  obtained  when  the 
water  was  measured  where  used  will  show  that  more  than  twice  as  many  acre-feet 
were  required  where  the  water  was  measured  at  the  headgate  as  where  measured  at 
the  place  of  use;  or,  in  other  words,  the  losses  in  the  canals  from  seepage  and  evap- 
oration amount  to  more  than  one-half  the  entire  supply.  This  is  in  aicoru  with 
many  of  the  measurements  made  on  irrigation  canals  in  India.     Among  those 

U.  S.  Dept.  Agr..  Oflice  of  Experiment  Stations  Bui.  86,  pp.  35-39. 
7<)7r,_Xo.  105—01 2 


is 

recorded  in  Buckley's  Irrigation  Works  in  India  is  one  whch  shows  that  the  irri- 
gation of  wheat  under  th<-  Jamda  Canal,  in  Bombay,  required  5.6  acre-feet  of 
water  for  each  aero  irrigated  when-  the  water  was  measured  at  the  head  of  the 
oanal,  but  where  the  water  was  measured  at  the  place  of  use  it  required,  in  two 
experiments,  only  2.1  acre-feet  and  1. 1  acre-feet  to  irrigate  an  acre,  the  loss  in  the 
canal  being  more  than  50  per  cent.  On  the  Hathmati  Canal,  in  the  same  country, 
the  loss  from  the  seepage  and  evaporation  was  50  per  cent.  These  losses  in  transit 
are  much  heavier  than  is  the  rule  on  the  older  canals  of  India,  and  are  doubtless 
more  general  than  they  will  be  in  this  country  when  the  banks  of  canals  are  older 
and  when  they  are  operated  with  greater  regard  for  economy. 

The  report  of  Mr.  Reed  shows  that  47.7  per  cent  of  the  water  turned  in  at 
the  head  of  the  Pecos  Canal  reached  the  consumers,  while  53.3  per  cent  was  lost 
through  seepage  and  evaporation.  The  causes  of  this  loss  are  explained  to  be  the 
checking  of  the  velocity  in  the  canal  by  dams  in  order  to  throw  water  on  ground 
too  high  to  be  irrigated  without  this,  certain  defects  in  construction,  and  the 
nature  of  the  soil  in  which  the  canal  is  built.  The  canal  has  a  bank  on  one  side 
only.  This  has  produced  stagnant  lakes  and  pools  on  the  upper  side  wherever 
the  canal  crosses  ravines,  or  where  the  ground  on  the  upper  side  is  s:>  low  that  the 
water  overflows  it  when  the  canal  is  tilled.  Mr.  Reed's  report  also  shows  the 
variation  in  rate  of  seepage  due  to  the  character  of  the  soil,  three-fourths  of 
the  water  entering  one  section  of  the  canal  1  mile  long  being  lost.  To  his  sum- 
mary of  the  causes  of  the  great  loss  of  water  there  may  be  added  the  fact  that  the 
water  used  in  this  canal  is  taken  from  the  reservoirs.  Its  temperature  is  already 
above  that  of  most  mountain  streams,  which  facilitat  s  alike  its  rapid  filtration 
and  evaporation.  It  is  perfectly  clear,  owing  to  the  fact  that  all  of  the  sediment 
carried  by  the  river  is  deposited  in  the  reservoirs.  This  canal  affords  an  illustra- 
tion of  a  lower  duty  on  a  particular  farm,  measuring  the  water  at  its  margin, 
than  the  average  under  the  main  canal,  measuring  the  water  near  the  headgates. 
Mr.  Heed  points  out  the  causes  for  this,  and  shows  that  it  does  not  illustrate  the 
necessities  of  irrigation,  but  the  possibilities  of  waste  under  eucouraging 
conditions. 

The  water  taken  into  the  Mesa  Canal  during  the  four  years  that  measurements 
have  been  made  has  varied  from  enough  to  cover  land  to  a  depth  of  5.9  feet  in 
1896  to  3.8  feet  in  1899.  A  measurement  was  made  in  1899  of  the  water  used  on  a 
farm  where  the  land  had  not  before  been  irrigated,  and  where  more  than  the  aver- 
age amount  of  water  was  required.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  rotation  was  practiced 
on  the  lateral  leading  to  this  farm,  it  is  impossible  to  determine  the  exact  quan- 
tity lost  in  passing  through  it.  but  the  water  delivered  at  its  head  for  this  farm 
would  have  covered  the  land  to  a  depth  of  only  2.8  feet.  The  difference  between 
the  average  depth  under  the  main  canal  and  the  depth  of  water  used  on  this  farm 
was  just  1  foot,  or  a  difference  in  quantity  of  1  acre-foot  per  acre  irrigated.  Mr. 
Code  estimates  that  this  difference  would  have  been  much  larger  if  the  loss  in 
transit  through  the  lateral  had  been  determined.  As  it  is.  this  shows  a  loss  of 
over  25  per  cent. 

The  construction  of  the  Gage  Canal  is  such  as  to  make  losses  through  seepage 
practically  nothing,  owing  to  the  canal  being  cemented.  The  loss  from  evapora- 
tion is  also  small,  because  the  canal  is  deep  and  narrow  and  has  throughout  its 
Length  a  uniform  cross  section,  with  no  pools  of  still  water  on  the  upper  side.  As 
compared  to  losses  varying  from  25  to  75  per  cent  shown  in  other  canals,  the  loss 
of  only  0  per  cent  in  this  canal  has  great  significance.  The  water  turned  into  the 
head  would  have  served  to  cover  the  land  irrigated  to  a  depth  of  2.2-i  feet,  while 
the  mean  depth  for  the  water  delivered  to  irrigators'  laterals  was  2.11  feet,  a  loss 
oj  only  0.18  of  an  acre-foot  per  acre  irrigated.  Canals  can  only  be  cemented  on 
earth,  as  is  done  in  California,  in  localities  where  frosts  in  winter  are  not  severe. 


U.  S.  Dept   of  Agr.,  Bui.   105,  Office  of  Expt.  Stations.      Irrigation  Investigations. 


Plate  V. 


Fig.  1.— Bear  River  Canal,  looking  North,  showing  Drop. 


Fig.  2.— Iron  Flume  across  Malad  River,  Bear  River  Canal. 


19 

There  are  other  remedial  measures  which  can  be  employed  in  other  sections  which 
will,  no  doubt,  be  largely  adopted  when  the  extent  of  the  loss  from  this  BOHrce  is 
lin  n-e  generally  realized.  Dumping  clay  into  the  canal  and  causing  it  to  be  dis- 
tributed by  agitating  the  water  has  been  tried  with  good  results  on  some  Nebraska 
ditch*  <. 

The  report  of  the  careful  and  interesting  investigations  of  Professor  Fortier  at 
the  Montana  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  shows  that  in  the  Middle  Creek 
Canal  nearly  22  per  cent  of  the  total  flow  was  lost  in  seepage  in  the  first  1  miles, 
while  the  probable  loss  in  the  entire  canal  was  35  per  cent.  The  conclusions  of 
Professor  Fortier  are  in  accord  with  those  of  other  observers  as  to  both  the  evils 
resulting  from  this  loss  and  the  methods  by  which  it  may  be  reduced. 

The  water  taken  into  Logan  and  Richmond  Canal  would  cover  the  entire  area 
it  irrigates  to  a  depth  of  3.59  feet.  The  water  actually  used  on  the  Oronquist  farm 
would  have  covered  it  to  a  depth  of  only  2.6  feet,  the  difference  between  the  aver- 
age duty  under  the  canal  and  the  measured  duty  on  one  farm  under  it  beinur  nearly 
1  acre-foot  of  water  for  each  acre  irrigated,  or  a  difference  of  about  28  per  cent. 
It  is  believed  that  this  can  be  fairly  taken  as  the  loss  resulting  from  the  seepage 
and  evaporation  in  carriage. 

The  water  entering  the  headgate  of  the  Amity  Canal  in  Colorado  would  have 
served  to  cover  all  the  land  irrigated  to  a  depth  of  4.92  feet.  The  water  delivered 
from  the  Biles  Lateral  would  have  covered  the  land  under  that  lateral  to  a  depth 
of  only  1.82  feet.  The  difference  between  the  average  duty  under  the  canal  and 
the  special  duty  under  one  lateral  is  63  per  cent.  This  seems  to  indicate  that  more 
than  one-half  of  the  water  taken  from  the  river  disappears  before  it  reaches  the 
place  of  use.  An  examination  of  the  map  of  the  Amity  Canal  will  show  the  reason 
for  this  excessive  loss.  The  canal  is  a  large,  long  one  and  much  of  the  time  last 
season  was  only  partly  filled.  More  than  one-half  of  the  time  the  water  flowing 
through  it  was  spread  out  in  a  broad,  thin  sheet,  which  reduced  its  velocity  and 
gave  abundant  opportunity  for  the  continuous  sunshine  to  raise  the  temperature. 
This  increase  in  temperature  facilitated  both  its  disappearance  in  the  air  and  its 
filtration  through  the  soil.  Mr.  Berry's  report  shows  that  the  season  of  1899  was 
unusually  windy,  making  evaporation  greater  than  usual. 

Enough  water  was  taken  into  Canal  No.  2  at  Wheatland,  Wyo.,  to  have  covered 
all  the  land  irrigated  to  a  depth  of  2. 53  feet,  while  only  enough  water  was  delivered 
through  the  J  lateral  of  that  canal  to  cover  the  two  fields  on  which  the  water  used 
in  irrigation  was  measured  to  a  depth  respectively  of  0.7  and  1.55  feet,  the  apparent 
loss  in  the  canal  being  one-half  the  water  entering  it.  In  this  case  this  high  rate  of 
loss  is  what  might  have  been  expected.  The  canal  is  long.  It  traverses  a  steep  hill- 
side slope  for  2  miles,  in  which  distance  the  loss  under  the  lower  bmk  is  excessive. 
In  many  places  the  bottom  is  gravel,  through  which  water  escapes  freely. 

In  order  to  more  carefully  study  the  variations  in  these  losses,  arrangements 
were  made  early  last  season  by  Frank  C.  Kelsey,  city  engineer  of  Salt  Lake  City, 
Utah,  to  measure  the  seepage  loss  from  the  Jordan  and  Salt  Lake  Canal  from  the 
Jordan  River.  This  canal  is  29  miles  long,  with  a  bottom  width  of  20  feet.  It  origi- 
nally had  a  grade  of  2  feet  per  mile,  but  when  measured  was  in  bad  condition,  with  a 
flow  of  30  cubic  feet  per  second  at  the  head.     The  loss  in  29  miles  was  45  per  cent. 

The  losses  from  seepage  in  new  canals  are  excessive.  For  the  past  six  months 
500  inches  of  water  have  been  flowing  in  at  the  head  of  a  10-mile  lateral  built  at 
Billings,  Mont.,  in  1899,  but  as  yet  not  a  drop  has  reached  the  lower  end.  On  a 
canal  built  in  Salt  River  Valley.  Wyoming,  there  was  a  loss,  in  1896.  of  10  cubic 
feet  per  second  in  a  distance  of  100  feet,  which  continued  for  several  weeks  with 
no  apparent  prospect  of  the  loss  diminishing.  This  was  about  one-third  of  the 
canal's  flow.  The  canal  was  then  abandoned.  The  canals  which  take  water  from 
the  North  Platte  River  are  all  subject  to  excessive  losses  when  first  built,  because 


20 

of  the  sandy  soil  through  which  they  must  pass.  In  high  water,  however,  this 
river  U  heavily  charged  with  a  white  clay,  due  to  the  erosion  of  its  banks.  When 
this  is  deposited  on  the  sides  and  bottom  of  ditches  it  forms  a  coating  only  less 
impervious  than  cement,  and  after  a  few  weeks' operation  during  high  water  seep- 
06868  always  show  great  diminution. 
Mr.  Code  reports  that  the  water  of  Salt  River,  Arizona,  contains  a  cementing 
material  which  in  time  renders  its  banks  almost  water-tight,  so  long  as  they  remain 
undisturbed.  This  has  not  heretofore  been  possible  on  the  Mesa  Canal,  because  it 
has  been  undergoing  constant  repairs  and  improvements. 


: 


Q.  (By  Mr.  A.  L.  Harris.)  Does  thai  seepage  come  to  the  surface 
below  on  ground  that  may  be  used  for  crops? — A.  Yes.  The  loss  of 
water  by  seepage  is  not  only  a  serious  problem  with  canal  owners,  but 
frequently  becomes  the  cause  of  grave  injury  to  the  farming  lands 
below.  The  water  which  escapes  through  the  bottom  of  the  canal 
follows  the  path  of  least  resistance,  and  this  sometimes  takes  it  into 
the  channel  of  the  river  or  causes  the  appearance  of  springs  in  ravines 
which  before  were  dry,  or  it  may  lead  it  to  reappear  iu  the  fields  below, 
often  converting  them  into  marshes  and  swamps.  Instances  are  not 
infrequent  where  thousands  of  acres  of  land  have  for  a  time  been 
rendered  valueless  from  this  cause.  The  saturation  of  the  subsoil 
and  the  gradual  rise  of  the  water  level  nearly  always  attend  irriga- 
tion. The  first  wells  dug  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  in  California 
were  CO  to  70  feet  deep.  Since  then  the  water  has  risen  in  many  of 
these  wells  to  within  4  or  5  feet  of  the  surface. 

Where  seepage  is  not  excessive  it  furnishes  an  inexpensive  method 
of  irrigation;  where  it  is  it  may  cause  a  double  injury.  It  prevents 
the  growth  of  crops  because  of  too  much  water,  aud  renders  the  soil 
unproductive  through  the  accumulation  of  alkali  which  it  causes. 

Water  passing  from  canals  through  the  subsoil  dissolves  the  soluble 
salts  which  all  Western  lands  contain  in  greater  or  less  measure,  and 
the  subsequent  evaporation  of  this  alkali-impregnated  water  so  in- 
creases the  percentage  of  alkali  in  the  lower  lands  as  to  prevent  the 
growth  of  crops.  This  evil  is  not,  however,  destined  to  be  a  perma- 
nent one,  and,  like  the  excessive  moisture,  can  be  remedied  by 
drainage. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Farquhar.)  In  Colorado  and  Wyoming  is  the  general 
characteristic  of  your  streams  seepage  or  are  they  on  solid  ground  and 
solid  bottom?— A.  In  both  of  those  two  States,  as  a  rule,  the  losses  are 
noi  excessive  in  canals.  There  are  exceptions,  of  course,  but  in  both 
eastern  Colorado  and  eastern  Wyoming  the  soil  is  of  a  character  to 
hold  water  pretty  well,  although  in  the  older  districts  in  Colorado 
there  is  a  considerable  area  of  land  in  the  low  bottoms  along  the 
streams  that  lias  become  supersaturated  both  with  water  and  alkali. 
This  is  not  altogether  due  to  losses  from  ditches.  Probably  the  greater 
pari  comes  from  putting  too  much  water  on  the  fields.  It  is  rather 
a  drainage  from  the  area  irrigated. 


U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr.,  Bui.  105,  Office  of  Expt.  Stations.      Imgation  Investigations. 


Plate  VI. 


Fig.  1  .—Appearance  of  Irrigation  Canal  when  First  Completed. 


Fig.  2.— Appearance  of  Irrigation  Canal  Ten  Years  after  Completion. 


21 

Q.  The  characteristic  of  the  Arkansas  from  its  source  north  of  Lead- 
ville  to  its  reaching  the  Mississippi  has  usually  been  characterized  as 
a  river  of  seepage.     Anywhere  along  the  banks,  by  digging  a  few  feel 

down,  you  reach  a  well.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  that  river  itself,  in  its 
whole  course,  a  good  part  of  it,  is  really  below  the  surface? — A.  All 
of  the  rivers  that  (low  out  on  the  plains  sink  into  the  sand  <>r  their 
bed.  I  did  not  take  your  question  as  applying  to  the  rivers,  bul 
rather  to  the  ditches. 

Q.  The  point  was  this,  that  many  of  the  foothill  streams  east  of  the 
mountains — would  not  the  seepage  be  generally  supposed  to  amount 
to  a  great  deal  or  do  much  harm;  hut  when  you  come  to  a  river  like 
the  Arkansas,  with  a  large  body  of  water  passing  over  plains  witli 
very  little  fall,  the  water  itself  is 'drawn  out  and  distributed  a  good 
deal  in  the  banks  and  surrounding  low  ground? — A.  That  is  true  of 
all  the  streams  flowing  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  out  on  the  plains. 
It  is  a  characteristic  of  the  Rio  Grande,  of  the  Arkansas,  the  South 
Platte,  and  the  North  Platte.  The  North  Platte  has  been  measured 
10(i  miles  west  of  the  Wyoming  border  and  found  to  carry  400  cubic 
feet  per  second,  while  a  few  miles  east  of  the  Nebraska  and  Wyoming 
border  it  was  entirely  dry.  The  entire  400  cubic  feet  per  second  had 
sunk  into  the  sand. 

FILLING  OF  CANALS  BY  SILT. 

Q.  Have  you  anything  to  say  about  the  filling  up  of  these  canals 
with  silt  and  other  substances  that  are  quite  expensive  in  canaling? — 
A.  The  canals  taken  out  of  the  lower  portion  of  those  streams  running 
out  on  the  plains  are  more  or  less  troubled  by  the  moving  sands  in 
the  bottom  of  the  stream,  that  tend  to  fill  them  up;  and  all  canals  that 
are  taken  out  of  rivers  that  carry  considerable  quantities  of  mud  in 
high  waters  have  to  be  cleaned  out  every  year.  The  deposits  of  mud 
can  be  handled  as  a  rule  without  anj-  excessive  expense,  but  in  streams 
like  the  North  and  South  Platte  and  the  lower  part  of  the  Arkansas 
the  sand  question  is  quite  troublesome;  and  on  the  lower  part  of  the 
Rio  Grande  the  question  of  mud  becomes  an  important  factor.  The 
red  rise  in  the  Rio  Grande  occurs  when  there  are  torrential  rains  along 
certain  portions  of  the  river  where  there  is  a  red  soil,  and  enormous 
volumes  of  mud  are  washed  down  in  the  river.  Samples  of  the  stream 
taken  at  that  time  have  shown  as  high  as  17  per  cent  of  solid  matter. 
All  the  ditches  have  to  be  closed  during  the  time  of  the  red  rise 
because  they  would  immediately  fill  up. 

At  Las  Cruces,  N.  Mex.,  is  one  of  the  oldest  ditches,  if  not  the  old- 
est ditch,  in  the  United  States.  That  ditch  was  formerly  a  channel 
cut  below  the  surface  of  the  ground.  Now  it  is  raised  4  or  5  feet 
above  the  surface  of  the  ground.  As  the  mud  which  was  carried  into 
the  ditch  was  cleaned  out  each  year  it  was  thrown  on  the  banks;  and 


22 

when  the  banks  became  so  high  as  to  be  troublesome  they  simply  let 
the  mud  fill  up  a  foot  or  so  in  the  bottom.  In  time  the  ditch  got  above 
the  stream,  and  they  had  to  move  the  head  farther  upstream.  In  the 
period  of  operation  of  that  canal  the  head  has  been  moved  upstream 
:>  or  4  miles  from  the  original  location.  Not  only  that,  but  since 
the  time  the  irrigation  began  the  level  of  the  soil  on  which  the  water 
and  mud  has  been  spread  lias  been  raised  from  a  few  inches  to  2  feet — 
higher,  of  course,  nearer  the  ditch,  and  becoming  thinner  and  thinner 
as  you  recede  from  it.  The  Rio  Grande  at  El  Paso  has  filled  up  its 
channel  from  this  cause  until  the  river  itself  is  higher  than  some  of 
the  streets  of  either  El  Paso  or  Juarez. 

CONTROVERSIES  OVER  TITLES  TO  WATER. 
ABSENCE  OF  PUBLIC  PROTECTION  OF  WATER  RIGHTS. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  A.  L.  Harris.)  Has  there  been  any  conflict  between 
irrigators  on  account  of  priority  of  rights'? — A.  In  recent  years  litiga- 
tion and  controversy  over  the  division  of  water  has  been  alike  a  con- 
spicuous and  injurious  feature  of  our  irrigated  agriculture.  It  has 
been  due  to  two  causes.  The  first  is  the  lack  of  any  plan  for  the 
establishment  of  rights  to  a  stream,  or  public  protection  of  those  rights. 
When  the  men  along  the  lower  end  of  a  stream  see  its  waters  shrink 
and  their  crops  burning  up  for  the  lack  of  water  they  realize  that  it 
is  due,  not  to  the  absence  of  the  snow  in  the  mountains,  but  to  the 
fact  that  later  ditches  above  them  are  robbing  them  of  their  just  share. 
Before  the  farmers  will  permit  the  loss  of  their  year's  labor  from  this 
cause  they  will  resort  to  almost  any  expedient  to  obtain  what  they 
believe  belongs  to  them,  and  so  they  organize  raids  to  tear  out  the 
dams  above,  or  go  into  court  to  obtain  legal  redress.  The  remedy  for 
this  is  to  have  water  divided  under  public  control.  In  the  four  States 
where  this  has  been  done  irrigators  are  far  more  contented  and  contro- 
versies far  less  numerous  and  injurious  than  where  no  such  control 
has  been  exercised. 

EXCESSIVE  APPROPRIATIONS  OF  WATER. 

The  second  reason  for  controversies  has  grown  out  of  the  mistakes 
made  in  the  adjudication  of  rights  to  streams.  In  the  study  of  the 
water-right  problems  of  California  recently  completed  there  were 
claims  for  28,630,932  inches  from  a  stream  which  can  not  be  relied 
upon  to  furnish  10,000  inches.  On  another  stream  which  carries  in 
the  irrigat  ion  season  less  than  200  cubic  feet  of  water  per  second  there 
were  claims  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  147,  GOO  cubic  feet  per  sec- 
ond. On  another  river  whose  greatest  measured  flow  is  less  than 
00,000  cubic  feet  per  second  there  are  claims  amounting  in  the  aggre- 


23 
gate  to  461,79  I  cubic  feet  per  second,  in  addil  ion  to  six  separate  claims 

to  the  eiil  ire  supply. 

The  situation  in  California  is  the  situation  in  nearly  every  other 
arid  stale  or  Territory.  Before  the  value  of  water  was  appreciated 
titles  to  its  use  or  control  in  amounts  far  beyond  the  present  or  any 
possible  future  need  of  appropriators  were  repeatedly  established, 

and  the  question  whether  these  excess  rights  are  now  to  he  corrected  or 
to  be  recognized  as  vested  rights  is  one  of  the  grave  issues  confronting 
irrigators,  lawmakers,  and  courts  in  every  Western  State. 

In  1884  and  L885,  while  acting  as  assistant  State  engineer  of  Colorado, 
I  measured  t  lie  ditches  of  northern  Colorado  on  t  he  si  reams  which  had 
been  previously  adjudicated.  My  report  of  these  measurements  called 
attention  to  the  discrepancy  between  the  decreed  appropriations  and 
the  actual  carrying  capacity  of  these  ditches  and  canals  in  the  follow- 
ing terms: 

So  great  was  this  in  some  instances  that  the  result  of  the  gagings  and  the 
decreed  capacity  seemed  to  have  no  connection  with  each  other.  Ditches  were  met 
with  having  decreed  capacities  of  two.  three,  and  even  five  times  the  volume  they 
were  capable  of  carrying,  ever  have  carried,  or  will  prohably  ever  need.  Other 
ditches  in  the  same  district  have  decrees  which  fairly  represent  their  actual  needs. 
It  needs  no  argument  to  show  the  worse  than  uselessness  of  these  decrees  as  a 
guide  to  the  water  commissioner  in  the  performance  of  his  duties. 

When  these  decrees  were  rendered  the  majority  of  appropriators 
believed  that  rights  for  irrigation  were  limited  to  the  lands  already 
irrigated,  and  that  so  long  as  used  there  the  actual  volume  stated  in 
the  decree  cut  very  little  figure.  Hence  there  wTas  little  solicitude  on 
the  part  of  late  appropriators  as  to  any  danger  arising  out  of  excessive 
grants.  Under  the  terms  of  these  decrees  each  appropriato.r  is  enti- 
tled to  a  definite  volume  of  water,  described  in  cubic  feet  per  second, 
and  to  a  continuous  flow  of  this  volume  throughout  the  year. 

Recent  decisions  have  recognized  the  right  of  the  holders  of  these 
decreed  appropriations  to  sell  the  entire  volume  granted.  As  a  result, 
the  owners  of  earlier  priorities  are  enlarging  their  ditches  and  extend- 
ing them  to  other  lands,  or,  where  this  is  not  possible,  are  attempting 
to  dispose  of  the  surplus  to  other  users.  Every  attempt  to  do  this, 
howrever,  is  contested.  The  truth  is  that  irrigators  have,  in  practice, 
been  building  up  a  system  of  one  theory  of  water  rights,  while  tin1 
courts  have  rendered  a  number  of  decisions  based  on  another  theory. 
We  have  now  reached  a  point  where  one  of  the  two  must  give  way. 
If  the  doctrine  laid  down  in  these  decisions  is  carried  to  its  logical 
conclusion,  it  will  transfer  the  owmership  of  a  majority  of  the  streams 
of  northern  Colorado  to  a  fewr  early  appropriators  and  compel  a  huge 
proportion  of  the  actual  users  of  water  to  purchase  from  such  appro- 
priators the  water  they  have  heretofore  had  for  nothing.  That  this 
is  not  an  extreme  statement  is  shown  by  the  accompanying  diagram 


24 

(li-.    l).  which  exhibits  the  relation  between  the  mean  monthly  dis- 
charge and  the  decreed  appropriations  of  the  Pondre  River. 

The  lasl  examination  of  the  records  showed  there  were  104  appro- 
priators  from  this  river,  the  aggregate  of  these  rights  being  4,632 
cubic  feel  per  Becond,  each  righl  being  for  a  continuous  discharge  of 
i  he  volume  decreed  ;  yel  in  August  of  1894  the  stream  carried  only  162 
cubic  feel  per  second;  in  August,  L893,  141  cubic  feet  per  second,  and 


Month.       Apr/7.        May.        June.       Ju/y.      August.      Sept.         Oct. 


Mean  monthly 
Discharge, 
1890 


n 


m 


Ml 


w\ 


charge. 
fol894. 


279 


1012 


1714 


675 


23$ 


115 


96 


Volume  of 

JExcess 

Appropriation. 


4354 


3621 


2$1$ 


3958 


4394 


4518 


4537 


Number  of  Appro 
priafors  witnout 

$ht  to  wafer. 


91 


63 


50 


70 


93 


98 


98 


Total  volume  appropriated  4632.53  sec- ft 
Total  number  of  dppropriators  104. 


Mean  mortfh/y  discharge. 


PlO.  1.— Relation  between  the  mean  monthly  discharge  of  the  Pondre  River  and  the  appropria- 
tions therefrom. 


i  he  si  ream  has  frequently  fallen  during  the  irrigation  season  to  below 
LOO  cubic  feet  per  second.  If  the  holders  of  these  rights  had  lived  up 
to  their  opportunities  during  the  last  half  of  their  irrigation  season, 
fully  one-half  of  the  actual  users  of  water  would  have  had  to  buy  from 
the  holders  of  these  excess  rights  every  gallon  of  water  used  after  the 
middle  of  August.  That  they  have  not  been  compelled  to  do  this  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  irrigation  practice  in  that  State  is  superior  to 
irrigation  law. 


U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr.,  Bui.  105    Office  of  Expt.  Stations.      Irrigation  Investigations 


Plate  VII. 


Fig.  1.— The  Headgates  of  an  Idaho  Canal. 


Fig.  2.— Side  Hill  Construction  on  an  Idaho  Canal. 


Fig.  3.— Irrigated  Farm  in  Idaho. 


25 

The  appreciation  of  the  dangers  which  iliis  situation  creates  is  not 
confined  to  farmers  alone.  In  a  different  brief  from  the  one  before 
referred  to  it  is  thus  forcibly  stated  by  Judge  Elliott: 

Excess  priority  decrees  are  a  crying  evil  in  this  State.  From  every  quarter  the 
demand  for  their  correction  is  strong  and  loud.  Such  crying  demand  can  not  be 
silenced  by  declaring  that  the  meaning  and  effect  of  BUCh  decrees  can  never  be 
inquired  into,  construed,  or  corrected  after  four  years. 

In  many  cases  such  decrees  are  so  uncertain,  so  ambiguous,  so  inequitable,  so 
unjust,  and  their  continuance  is  such  a  hardship  that  litigated  cases  will  be  con- 
tinually pressed  upon  the  attention  of  the  courts  until  such  controversies  are  heard 
and  settled,  and  settled  right.  Litigation  in  a  free  country  can  never  end  while 
wrongs  are  unrighted. ' 

The  settlement  of  this  issue  is  not  of  local  importance.  It  concerns 
the  State  and  nation  as  nineh  as  the  individual  irrigator.  The  indi- 
vidual irrigator  needs  to  know  who  owns  the  water  he  uses,  if  State 
or  national  aid  is  to  be  extended.  It  needs  to  be  known  who  owns  the 
water  which  public  funds  render  available. 

PRINCIPLES  GOVERNING  WATER  RIGHTS  IN  CANADA  AND 

WYOMING. 

Before  either  public  or  private  development  proceeds  much  further 
there  is  need  of  some  more  general  agreement  regarding  the  nature  of 
a  water  right  than  now  prevails,  as  well  as  some  more  effective  means 
of  disposing  of  streams  than  has  yet  been  provided.  For  several 
years  Canada  has  been  dealing  with  this  problem,  and  has  finally 
reached  a  definite  result.  The  fact  that  their  conditions  are  similar 
to  ours  makes  the  general  principles  which  underlie  the  Canadian  irri- 
gation code  worthy  of  our  study.     These  principles  are  given  below:- 

(1)  That  the  water  in  all  streams,  lakes,  ponds,  springs,  or  other  sources  is  the 
property  of  the  Crown. 

(2)  That  this  water  may  be  obtained  by  companies  or  individuals  for  certain 
described  uses  upon  compliance  with  the  provisions  of  the  law. 

(3)  That  the  uses  for  which  water  may  be  so  acquired  are  "  domestic,''  "irriga- 
tion." and  "other  "  purposes,  domestic  purposes  being  limited  to  household  and 
sanitary  purposes,  the  watering  of  stock,  and  operations  of  railways  and  factories 
by  steam,  but  not  the  sale  or  barter  of  water  for  such  purposes. 

(4)  That  the  company  or  individual  acquiring  water  for  irrigation  or  other  pur- 
poses shall  be  given  a  clear  and  indisputable  title  to  such  water. 

(5)  That  holders  of  water  rights  shall  have  the  protection  and  assistance  of  per- 
manent Government  officials  in  the  exercise  of  such  rights. 

(6)  That  disputes  or  complaints  regarding  the  diversion  or  use  of  water  shall 
be  referred  to  and  settled  by  the  officials  of  the  Government  department  charged 
with  the  administration  of  the  act,  and  that  decisions  so  given  shall  be  final  and 
without  appeal. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  these  principles  of  the  Canadian  law 
with  those  underlying  the  Wyoming  irrigation  code,  Wyoming  having 


1  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Office  of  Experiment  Stations  Bui.  58,  pp.  30-32. 
2U.  S.  Dept.  Agr..  Office  of  Experiment  Stations  Bui.  90,  p.  12. 


26 

gone  farther  than  any  of  the  ot  her  arid  Commonwealths  in  the  direction 
of  public  control  of  streams.     These  follow: 

First.  That  water  is  not  subject  to  private  ownership,  but  is  the  property  of  the 
State. 

Second.  That  the  board  of  control  is  the  trustee  for  the  administering  of  a  great 
public  trust  in  the  interests  of  the  people  of  the  State. 

Third.  That  all  rights  to  divert  water  from  the  streams  must  be  based  on  benefi- 
cial use,  and  that  the  right  terminates  when  the  use  ceases. 

Fourth.  That  the  volume  diverted  shall  in  all  cases  be  limited  to  the  least 
amount  actually  necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  purposes  of  the  diversion. 

Fifth.  That  under  no  circumstances  shall  the  water  diverted  for  irrigation 
exceed  1  cubic  foot  per  second  for  each  70  acres  of  land  actually  irrigated. 

Sixth.  That  the  right  to  the  use  of  the  public  waters  attaches  only  to  the  use  for 
which  the  right  was  originally  obtained. 

Seventh.  That  the  right  of  diversion  for  irrigation  attaches  to  the  land  reclaimed 
and  none  other;  that  the  transfer  of  the  land  carries  with  it  the  right,  and  that 
apart  from  the  land  the  right  can  not  be  transferred. 

Eighth.  That  when  a  ditch  waters  land  not  the  property  of  the  ditch  owner  the 
right  attaches  to  the  land  on  which  the  water  is  used  and  not  to  the  ditch.  The 
owner  of  the  lands  irrigated  makes  the  proof  of  appropriation  and  the  certificate 
is  issued  to  him.  No  certificate  of  appropriation  can  be  issued  to  a  ditch  owner 
for  the  watering  of  lands  not  his  own.  The  ditch  owner  is  a  common  carrier  and 
is  subject  to  regulation  as  such. 

Ninth.  That  when  proper  diligence  has  been  exercised  in  the  construction  of 
works  and  in  applying  the  water  to  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  diverted  the  pri- 
ority is  fixed  by  the  date  of  beginning  the  survey.  When  diligence  is  lacking,  the 
priority  dates  from  the  time  of  use.  ' 

STORAGE  OF  WATER  FOR  IRRIGATION. 
RESERVOIRS  IN  THE  WEST  PRIVATE  PROPERTY. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Farquhar.)  Does  the  State  control  the  reservoirs? — 
A.  Except  for  two  or  three  reservoirs  in  Colorado,  all  the  reservoirs 
there  are  in  the  West  are  private  property,  and  their  owners  exer- 
cise the  same  control  over  them  that  they  do  over  ditches.  Irrigation 
from  reservoirs  has  not  yet,  however,  assumed  much  importance  as 
compared  to  irrigation  from  canals  which  take  water  directly  from  the 
streams.  So  long  as  there  is  water  running  in  a  river  which  can  be 
diverted  there  is  no  need  of  reservoirs,  since  storage  is  only  an  added 
expense  to  the  direct  diversion  from  streams.  On  every  river,  there- 
fore, reservoirs  receive  little  attention  until  the  natural  flow  has  been 
utilized;  that  is,  on  rivers  having  a  perennial  flow.  On  the  Poudre 
River  in  Colorado,  however,  the  natural  flow  has  been  exhausted  and 
an  extensive  system  of  private  reservoirs  has  been  built  to  supple- 
ment it. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Kennedy.)  How  far  is  Greeley  from  the  head  of  the 
stream  that  IV<m1s  their  canal? — A.  About  125  miles  from  the  head; 
about  40  miles  below  the  head  of  the  upper  ditch. 

1  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Office  of  Experiment  Stations  Bui.  96.  pp.  40  and  50. 


27 

Q.  Are  there  Lands  adjacent  to  thai  river  all  the  way  to  the  head,  as 
well  as  the  Greeley  Colony  lands? — A.  Only  to  where  the  stream 
leaves  the  mountains,  aboul  l<>  miles  above. 

Q.  Plenty  of  water  Cor  all? — A.  No;  there  is  plenty  of  wain-  early 
in  the  season,  bul  they  have  had  to  resorl  to  storage  to  secure  enough 
for  the  Later  pan  of  the  .season. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  A.  L.  Harris.)  Is  there  a  possibility  for  storage  so  as  to 
economize  the  water  at  dry  seasons? — A.    Yes. 

STORAGE  MAKES  PUBLIC  CONTROL  NECESSARY. 

Q.  What  is  the  effect,  if  any,  of  storage  on  prior  rights? — A.  That 
is  a  troublesome  question  to  answer. 

We  will  take  up  the  question  of  storage  in  connection  with  this 
matter.  Bulletin  92  deals  with  the  subject  of  storage  on  the  Poudre 
River,  It  is  the  stream  where  storage  has  been  carried  further,  prob- 
ably, than  any  other  in  the  whole  Rocky  Mountain  drainage  area. 
The  diagram  of  the  run-off  of  that  river  in  the  different  months  of  the 
irrigation  period  for  a  large  number  of  years  shows  that  distribution 
of  water  during  the  season  is  far  from  uniform.  The  highest  water 
occurs  in  .May,  and  from  the  middle  of  May  to  the  middle  of  June 
nearly  half  of  the  entire  year's  discharge  runs  away.  The  needs  of 
irrigators  in  this  valley  are  not  in  accord  with  this  variation  in  dis- 
charge. They  are  now  growing  crops  which  require  more  water  in  July, 
August,  and  September  than  the  stream  will  supply,  and  this  has 
made  it  necessary  for  them  to  build  reservoirs  to  hold  hack  the  sur- 
plus flow  o£  the  early  summer  months  until  it  is  needed.  They  have 
done  this  by  utilizing  natural  depressions  which  lie  outside  of  the 
channel  of  the  stream,  which  are  filled  by  the  higher  canals  and  tinned 
into  the  lower  ones.  The  development  of  this  reservoir  system  has 
given  rise  to  a  very  interesting  system  of  exchanges  between  the 
canals,  described  in  this  bulletin,  and  hence  need  not  be  referred  to 
here.  Where  reservoirs  are  located  outside  of  the  channel  of  streams 
there  is  no  question  of  public  policy  involved  in  their  construction 
and  operation  as  private  works,  and  as  irrigation  extends  there  will 
be  more  and  more  private  capital  invested  in  such  reservoirs,  because 
these  investments  are  proving  exceeding^  profitable.  But  where 
reservoirs  are  located  in  the  channel  of  running  streams,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  mountains  on  the  headwaters  of  these  streams,  there  is  a 
question  of  public  policy  as  to  whether  or  not  they  should  be  built  as 
public  works,  even  if  private  capital  is  willing  to  undertake  their  con- 
struction. The  water  from  reservoirs  so  located  has  to  be  turned  intc 
the  natural  channel  of  the  stream  and  carried  down  with  the  natural 
flow  to  the  valleys  where  it  is  to  be  used.  If  there  is  no  public  con- 
trol of  streams,  irrigators  will  not  discriminate  between  the  natural 
flow  and  the  stored  supply.  They  will  raise  their  headgates  and  take 
whatever  comes  in.     Unless  there  is  some  means  for  the  public  regu- 


28 

lation  of  headgates,  those  having  no  righl  to  the  stored  supply  will 
oftentimes  have  a  better  opportunity  for  securing  it  than  its  legiti- 
mate owners,  [f  public  regulation  is  attempted,  certain  perplex- 
ing questions  are  sure  to  arise  If  there  are  no  restrictions  on  the 
price  thai  the  owner  of  the  reservoir  charges  for  his  water,  those 
injured  by  public  control  will  be  certain  to  urge  thai  the  taxpayer's 
money  is  being  expended  for  the  benefit  of  an  oppressive  monopoly. 
If  the  law  which  protects  the  reservoir  owner  also  regulates  the 
charge  which  he  may  make  for  water,  there  will  still  be  controver- 
sies as  to  whether  the  rate  is  reasonable.  If,  however,  these  reser- 
voirs at  the  heads  of  streams  are  built  and  operated  as  public  works 
and  the  water  they  impound  used  to  make  more  secure  the  sup- 
ply of  the  appropriators  of  the  natural  flow,  just  as  bridges  are 
built  to  facilitate  the  safe  and  comfortable  travel  of  people  of  differ- 
ent  communities,  all  these  troublesome  questions  will  be  avoided. 
There  can  be  no  question,  however,  that  the  construction  of  reservoirs 
on  the  heads  of  streams  makes  necessary  one  of  two  things,  either 
public  ownership  of  the  supply  or  public  protection  in  the  delivery 
of  water  stored  in  private  reservoirs.  Last  year  I  had  an  interesting 
experience  in  observing  the  emptying  of  a  reservoir  built  as  a  private 
enterprise  on  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Weaver  River  in  Utah. 
The  owners  of  this  reservoir  irrigate  their  lands  from  a  ditch  which 
diverts  the  stream  many  miles  below.  Between  the  outlet  of  their 
reservoir  and  the  headgate  of  their  canal  were  eleven  other  ditches, 
all  willing  to  share  in  the  stored  supply.  There  is  no  public  control 
of  streams  in  Utah,  and  the  manager  of  the  reservoir  was- greatly  dis- 
turbed to  know  how  he  was  to  get  the  stored  water  past  the  headgates 
on  the  eleven  ditches  and  down  to  the  head  of  his  own  canal.  In 
reply  to  his  inquiry  as  to  how  I  would  accomplish  it,  I  asked  him  how 
he  had  gone  about  it  the  year  before.  At  first  he  was  reluctant  to 
tell,  but  finally  said  that  he  turned  down  enough  water  to  wash  out 
all  the  intervening  dams,  thus  leaving  a  clear  passageway.  Before 
the  dams  could  be  repaired  the  reservoir  had  been  emptied.  He  real- 
ized that  this  year  the  same  expedient  could  not  be  employed.  For- 
tunately, a  temporaiy  compromise  was  effected,  which  answered  for 
the  season,  but  the  same  issue  must  be  met  next  year,  and  there  will 
be  no  enduring  peace  or  stability  until  the  whole  matter  is  regulated 
by  law. 

There  is  no  question  but  that  the  subject  of  reservoirs  will  in  the 
next  few  years  assume  a  much  greater  importance  than  it  has  in  the 
past,  because  on  many  streams  it  is  the  only  means  by  which  the  area 
now  irrigated  can  be  extended.  We  can  not  determine  too  soon, 
therefore,  whether  we  are  to  continue  to  permit  their  construction  as 
private  works  or  to  build  those  on  the  head  of  streams  as  public  works. 
I  believe  reservoirs  located  away  from  the  channels  of  streams  can  be 
safely  left  to  private  enterprise.     I  believe  those  built  to  supplement 


U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr.,  Bui.   105    Olfice  of  Expt.  Stations.     Irrigation  Investigations.  PLATE   VIII. 


Fig.  1.— Head  of  Gage  Canal,  California. 


L 


r 


Fig.  2.— Division  Bulkhead  of  Gage  Canal,  California. 


29 

the  natural  (low  of  streams  and  to  meet  the  needs  of  a  number  of 
ditches  or  canals  should  be  public  works.  Whether  they  should  be 
State  or  national  works  depends  on  whether  or  not  the  present  policy  of 
having  all  rights  to  water  regulated  by  State  laws  is  to  be  continued, 
[f  ii  is,  these  reservoirs  should  be  State  works  and  owned  and  operated 
as  a  part  of  i  he  State  system. 

Q,  Should  that  matter  be  determined  at  an  early  date? — A.  It 
ought  to  be,  in  order  that  both  State  and  national  laws  shall  !>■■  in 
accord  with  the  policy  adopted.  Any  uncertainty  regarding  future 
legislation  is  also  likely  to  interfere  with  the  building  of  ditches  and  the 
reclamation  of  new  land  by  individuals  or  corporations.  The  success 
of  irrigation  depends  so  largely  on  the  wisdom  or  weakness  of  the 
water  laws  in  force  that  if  any  changes  are  to  be  made  the  sooner 
they  are  made  the  better. 

IRRIGATION  A  STATE  QUESTION. 

Q.  Is  there  any  reason  why  the  State  could  not  take  hold  of  the 
whole  subject  of  irrigation  within  the  State  and  thereby  protect  the 

private  Ian  downers? — A.  There  is  not.  On  the  contrary,  the  fact  that 
the  subject  is  of  paramount  importance  in  eacli  one  of  the  arid  States, 
that  the  people  who  have  made  the  beginning  understand  local  con- 
ditions and  necessities,  makes  it  possible  for  the  States  to  bring  to 
the  solution  of  the  problems  of  irrigation  a  higher  intelligence  and 
more  direct  interest  than  can  be  secured  in  any  other  way.  That 
they  have  not  succeeded  in  the  past  has  been  due  in  part  to  a  lack  of 
appreciation  of  the  necessity  for  legislation  and  to  a  disagreement 
regarding  the  principles  which  should  govern  the  ownership  of  water. 
The  States  are  entirely  capable,  in  my  judgment,  of  regulating  and 
protecting  all  interests  connected  with  this  subject;  but  they  are  not 
capable,  under  present  conditions,  of  securing  the  full  utilization  of 
their  resources.  As  I  have  before  stated,  on  some  of  the  larger  livers 
it  will  cost  more  to  irrigate  land  than  private  capital  can  afford  to 
expend.  The  building  of  reservoirs  as  public  works  to  provide  for 
the  larger  utilization  of  rivers  does  not  appeal  to  private  investors. 
In  both  cases,  however,  there  is  an  argument  in  favor  of  the  expendi- 
ture of  public  funds  which  does  not  appeal  to  the  private  investor. 
The  public  reaps  benefits  from  the  construction  of  irrigation  works 
which  private  capital  can  not  share.  It  gives  to  land  now  worthless 
a  high  value,  and  largely  increases  the  taxable  resources  of  the  States 
and  the  productive  wealth  of  the  whole  country.  If  the  arid  States 
were  in  a  position  to  build  canals  and  reservoirs,  there  are  many 
instances  where  it  would  be  wise  public  policy  for  them  to  do  so; 
but,  unfortunately,  they  lack  the  resources  to  undertake  this.  They 
are  young  and  sparsely  populated,  the  expenses  of  maintaining  local 
government  are  heavy,  and  all  of  this  has  to  be  paid  for  by  taxes 
levied  on  only  a  small  fraction  of  the  land  within  the  borders  of  each 


30 

of  these  States.  The  table  which  follows  shows  how  large  a  percent- 
age of  ill*'  area  of  each  of  these  States  is  still  public  land.  It  con- 
tributes oothing  in  the  way  of  taxes  to  the  local  governmenl  and  can 
not  be  used  as  a  basis  of  credit  to  borrow  money  for  its  improvement. 

Total  arm  of  each  of  the  arid  and  semiarid  States,  thearea  of  public  land  remain- 
ing undisposed  of  and  the  area  a  t  apart  for  TncHai  '<>>(s. 


r  Territory. 


Arizona  

California 

Colorado 

Idaho : 

Kan-as 

Montana 

Nebraska 

a   

Now  Mexico  .. 
North  Dakota 

Oregon 

South  Dakota 

Utah 

Washington  .. 
Wyoming.  -.. 


'   Undisposed      Indian  reser- 
of  and  vat: 

unree  ated>. 


101,21 
io,ieo 

11,040 

94,119,040 
61,9; 

SI,  200 
54,35 
45,167,360 

11,980 


42,467,512 
39,650,247 

1,196,900 

(17.  i*>5.  nf>7 

56,541,170 

42,967,451 
11,125,883 
48,358,169 


Total 


959,213,440 


"  .-     " 


15,15 

None 

9,500,700 

954,135 

3,701,724 

1,300,225 

8,  991,791 

9,040 

2.3;v;.:,;4 
L  810, 000 

12.353 


It  has  been  suggested,  and  a  number  of  bids  have  been  introduced 
in  Congress  embodying  the  idea,  that  the  states  be  given  the  proceeds 
of  the  Bales  of  public  lands  within  their  borders  as  a  fund  witli  which 
to  construct  important  public  irrigation  works.  The  following  table 
shows  how  much  the  States  would  have  realized  from  this  during  the 
year  1000: 

Receipts  from  the  sale  of  public  land  in  the  arid  States  and  Territories 

less  cost  of  local  land  office*. 


e  or  Territory. 

Amount. 

Territory. 

Amount. 

120,000 
172,000 
126,000 
377,000 

7.000 
38,000 

1314,000 
284,000 
150,000 

California 

Colorado 

Oregon ._. 

South  Dakota 

Idaho 

Utah 

67,000 

Washington 

Wyoming 

Total 

Is.'.  000 

Nebraska 

166,080 

Nevada 

New  Mexico 

2.107,000 

LEASING  OF  THE  PUBLIC  GRAZING  LANDS. 

These  revenues  represent  sales  of  land.  They  can  be  largely 
increased  if  some  system  is  devised  for  collecting  a  revenue,  by  rent- 
als or  otherwise,  from  the  public  grazing  lands.  It  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  only  a  small  fraction,  probably  not  more  than  10  per  cent, 
of  all  the  lands  of  the  arid  region  can  be  irrigated,  while  of  the  arid 
land  still  remaining  public  the  irrigable  percentage  is  much  smaller, 
i inly  not  over  5  per  cent  ami  probably  not  over  2  per  cent.  The 
reason  for  this  is  that  lands  easily  irrigated  have  passed  into  private 


31 

hands.  The  public  lands  along  many  rivers  require  more  water  than 
the  streams  contain.     Of  the  remainder  of  1 1 1 < *   public  lands  more 

than  400,000,000  acres  arc  grazing  lands,  valuable  for  past  urage  pur- 
poses alone.  Sooner  or  later  il  will  be  necessary  for  the  Governmenl 
to  exercise  some  sorl  of  managemenl  or  control  over  these  lands  in 
order  to  prevent  neighborhood  controversies  and  preserve  the  native 
grasses  from  being  destroyed  from  overstocking  the  range,  [fin  con- 
nection with  i b is  a  leasing  Bystem  could  be  devised  which  would  unite 
the  grazing  and  Irrigable  lands  in  such  awaj  that  each  irrigator  could 
have  a  right  to  lease  a  small  area  of  the  contiguous  pasture  land,  a 
large  income  from  rentals  would  be  secured  and  both  the  irrigable  and 
grazing  interests  put  on  a  more  secure  footing  than  now.  In  order  to 
show  the  possibilities  of  these  rentals  the  following  table  has  been 
prepared  to  show  the  income  dome  of  the  arid  states  receive  from  the 
small  area>  they  lease: 

Summary  showing  results  of  leasing  StaU  "i><i  Territorial  lands  insomeofth*  "mi 

States  awl  Territories. 


State  or  Territory. 

Total  area       Acreage 

of  State  or   under  lease      rrv.f  ■, 

Territorial    at  dose  of     J,?™ 

lands  nn-      last  fiscal     V.  "o  Jf" 

disposed         year  or 
of.            bieunium. 

Average 

rental 
per  acre. 

Colorado 3,089,938 

Idaho 

1,261 . ::            U03.121 

32,271.98 

912            112,487 
1,879.143 

108,531               6,300 
1,969,946 

)0  082 

.nil 

Montana 

.112 

Xeliraska. 

<!,372 

Utah  

.059 

"Wyoming 

.011 

a  Total  receipts  for  biennium  ending  November  30,  1900,  for  interest,  rentals,  bonus,  etc..  were 
1782,975.66. 

NATIONAL  AID  EXTENDED  BY  LAND  GRANTS. 


A  few  of  the  States  have  received  aid  in  the  way  of  land  grants. 
Colorado  was  given  500,000  acres  of  land  to  provide  a  fund  for  making 
public  improvements.  Sonu-  of  this  money  lias  hern  >p<'ii!  on  irriga- 
tion works. 

Q.  What  is  the  name  of  that  grant? — A.  Pnblic-improvemenl  fund. 
Reservoirs  and  ditches  are  not  the  only  public  improvements  for  which 
this  fund  could  be  expended.  Roads  and  bridges  belong  to  the  list, 
and  the  greater  part  of  the  fund  lias  been  expended  in  their  construc- 
tion. Utah  was  given  500,0cm  acres  of  land  to  provide  ;i  reservoir 
fund,  but  that  was  a  recent  donation,  and  I  do  not  think  that  any  of 
the  lands  have  been  sold.  There  are  other  means,  however,  for  pro- 
moting the  growth  of  irrigation  besides  the  appropriation  of  money. 
The  present  land  laws  were  framed  for  the  humid  region.  They  do 
not  meet  the  requirements  of  the  arid  region.  The  benefits  which  can 
come  from  their  modification  have  been  illustrated  in  the  passage  of 
what  is  popularly  known  as  the  Carey  Act,  which  gave  to  each  State 


32 

the  power  to  control  1,000,000  acres  of  land  during  its  reclamation. 
It  lias  resulted  in  the  irrigation  in  Wyoming  of  about  100,000  acn 
land  which  would  uever  have  been  reclaimed  under  the  public-land 
act.  Tin-  projects  Inaugurated  under  the  Carey  Act  in  Idaho  embrace 
in  the  aggregate  aboul  400,000  acres.  In  both  of  these  States  the 
conditions  of  irrigators  are  rendered  superior  to  the  average  result 
where  Land  is  reclaimed  under  the  homestead  or  desert-land  acts.  To 
acquire  land  under  this  aet  in  either  of  these  States  there  must  be 
actual  settlement  and  cultivation.  No  one  can  acquire  more  than  160 
acres,  but  attached  to  that  160  acres  is  a  water  right  and  a  share  in 
the  canal  which  supplies  the  water  under  it. 

COST  AND  VALUE  OF  IRRIGATION. 

Q.  I  believe  you  have  not  said  anything  yet  in  regard  to  the  cost  of 
irrigation  and  its  value,  have  you?  I  do  not  want  to  anticipate.  - 
A.  Xo.  The  first  ditches  built  always  are  the  cheapest.  Men  go 
along  streams  and  tind  a  place  where  they  can  take  out  little  ditches 
in  the  favorable  bends,  and  such  ditches  cost  but  little  more  than 
later  laterals  from  main  canals. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  LiTCHMAN.)  Have  you  gone  over  the  manner  of  making 
the  ditch? — A.  Yes.  So  that  from  a  great  many  of  the  earlier  ditches 
water  was  taken  out  and  spread  over  the  lands  for  anywhere  from  $2 
to  85  an  acre.  A  great  deal  of  land  was  irrigated  and  ditches  were 
built  for  prices  not  to  exceed  that.  When  you  come  to  building  large 
ditches  you  have  the  expense  for  the  lateral  and  also  the  expense  for 
the  main  canal,  and  there  the  expense  runs  all  the  way  from  $5  to  |15 
an  acre.  We  have  about  reached  the  point  where  the  cost  is  above 
that,  because  we  are  now  dealing  with  the  large  rivers  that  require 
costly  headgates  and  where  the  fall  is  less  than  where  the  first  small 
ditches  were  built.  While  the  streams  that  were  first  used  had  a  fall 
to  the  mile  ranging  from  5  to  50  feet,  we  now  have  to  deal  with  such 
streams  as  the  Missouri,  which  has  a  fall  of  from  '2  to  10  feet  to  the 
mile,  and  the  Big  Horn,  with  a  fall  during  a  large  part  of  its  course 
of  about  4=  feet  to  the  mile.  There  you  have  to  build  a  much  larger 
canal  to  get  onto  the  table-land  bordering  the  river,  or  you  have  to 
build  a  costly  dam  in  the  river  to  raise  the  water  up  at  the  outset, 
and  the  larger  projects  which  remain  to  be  built  will  require  a  much 
larger  outlay.  The  estimates  on  a  good  many  of  these  canals  range 
anywhere  from  $7  to  $20  an  acre  for  water,  and  that  is  a  higher  price 
than  can  be  paid,  because  there  has  to  be  added  to  the  cost  of  the 
water  the  cosl  of  the  settler's  equipment,  including  the  expense  of  his 
house,  his  tools,  his  stock,  and  of  putting  his  land  into  condition  for 
cultivation.  The  surface  of  the  land  has  to  be  smoothed  off  so  that 
the  water  can  he  made  to  flow  over  it,  and  in  many  cases  where  there 
i>  sagebrush  on  the  land  it  has  to  be  removed  :  so  that  the  expense  of 
putting  the  land  in  condition  for  distribution  of  water  is  frequently 


U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr.,  Bui.  105,  Office  of  Expt.  Stations.     Irrigation  Investigations. 


Plate  IX. 


Fig.  1.— View  of  a  Stock  Ranch  at  Mesa,  Ariz. 


Fig.  2.— An  Almond  Orchard  in  Arizona. 


83 

almost  as  much  as  the  Land  is- worth.  Ami  in  many  places  where 
there  is  an  abundance  of  land  it  is  not  being  developed,  because  it 
vould  cosl  as  much  todevelop  it  as  it  would  to  buy  an  improved  farm 
in  the  older  States  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  There  is  no  inducement 
lor  immigration  under  such  conditions. 

Now,  trhe  value  of  irrigated  laud  is  governed  by  nearness  to  local 
markets,  by  the  el  i  in  ate,  which  governs  the  kinds  of  products  grown, 
and  by  the  distance  and  cost  of  railway  transportation  to  the  great 
markets  of  t he  world.  In  southern  California  and  around  Phoenix, 
Ariz.,  where  you  can  raise  citrus  fruits  and  other  high-priced  products, 
Irrigated  land  reaches  a  value  as  great  as  is  found  anywhere  in  this 
loun try,  or  perhaps  in  the  world.  There  lands  having  no  improve- 
ments except  the  orange  orchards  planted  on  them  have  sold  as  high 
as  81,800  an  acre,  perhaps  higher.  I  have  seen  lands  that  sold  for 
that  price  in  sout  hern  <  California,  and  water  has  a  corresponding  value. 
Water  rentals  reach  to  figures  that  would  be  impossible  elsewhere  in 
the  irrigated  sections.  I  know  of  instances  where  water  rents  for  $45 
an  inch  a  year,  and  where  rights  to  it  reach  as  high  as  11,000  an  inch. 
Now,  when  you  come  to  the  northern  part  of  the  arid  region,  tin-  por-» 
tion  that  competes  with  the  agricultural  districts  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  there  you  get  into  districts  having  cheaper  water  supplies 
and  cheaper  lands. 

PRODUCTS  OF  THE  ARID  REGION. 

Throughout  its  greater  part  the  arid  region  will  always  be  largely 
devoted  to  the  raising  of  live  stock  and  to  gardens  to  supply  the 
mines  and  the  manufacturing  and  commercial  centers  of  the  region. 
After  you  have  satisfied  your  local  market  the  only  demand  for  your 
produce  is  for  furnishing  the  winter's  food  supply  for  live  stock,  and 
aside  from  these  two  outlets  there  is  no  basis  for  any  large  develop- 
ment .  The  live-stock  industry  is  largely  based  on  the  use  as  a  grazing 
ground  of  the  remaining  public  lands,  and  the  private  lands  that 
have  passed  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Government  or  the  railroads. 
■formerly  it  was  the  practice  to  turn  cattle  and  sheep  loose  on  these 
fcrazing  lands  and  let  them  go  from  youth  to  old  age  without  ever 
having  any  care  or  shelter  during  either  winter  or  summer.  They 
earn  their  subsistence  off  the  open  range.  But  that  is  now  giving 
way  to  the  practice  of  feeding  in  winter.  This  is  not  voluntary;  it 
has  been  forced.  The  overpast  uring  of  the  public  and  private  mazing 
lands  has  made  it  impossible  to  depend  on  them  for  the  winter's  food 
supply,  and  you  have  to  provide  for  it  from  other  sources.  Therefore, 
you  have  to  depend  on  the  irrigated  lands.  Those  lands,  to  be  avail- 
able, have  to  be  distributed  throughout  the  range  country,  because 
when  the  storms  come  in  the  winter  you  can  not  supply  stock  50  or 
100  miles  from  a  railroad,  even  if  you  had  an  unlimited  supply  of 
feed  at    the   railroad.     It   is   impossible  to  transport  it.     You  must 

7U7G— Xo.  105—01 3 


84 

•  ii  where  if   is  needed,  and  the  needs  of  the  live-stock  bus 
have  been  one  of  the  greal   Incentives  t<>  irrigation,  and  furnish  one 
of   the  best    markets   for   grown  crops,   principally  native  hay  and 
alfalfa.     Those  are   the  two  Leading  general  products  of  the  grazin 
on. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  A.  L.  Harris.)  Would  it  be  possible  to  raise  wheal 
and  corn  at  a  profit  with  the  high  price  for  water  right-:-—  A.  I  do 
not  think  corn  can  ever  become  a  general  crop  under  irrigation.  It 
own  in  restricted  areas  as  a  part  of  the  system  of  rotation,  but 
there  is  a  considerable  portion  of  the  arid  land  where  the  nights  arc 
too  cold  for  it.  In  fact,  it  is  a  characteristic  of  the  arid  region  that 
the  nights  are  too  cold  to  make  it  acorn-growing  egiori.  Besides, 
alfalfa  is  a  better  stock  food,  and  yon  could  not  grow  corn  at  a 
profit  if  you  had  to  ship  it  out.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  wheat. 
Unless  there  shall  be  a  market  which  can  be  reached  by  water,  and 
without  excessive  railroad  charges,  there  will  never  be  any  large 
development  of  the  wheat-growing  industry  in  the  irrigated  regions. 
You  can  not  grow  it  and  ship  it  out.  The  great  bulk  of  the  wheat 
gU'own  now  is  consumed  at  home,  and  in  a  good  many  of  the  arid 
States  enough  is  not  raised  to  supply  the  home  demand — not  nearly 
enough.  Montana.  Wyoming,  and  Idaho  are  all  importers  of  flour. 
They  are  also  considerable  importers  of  oats.  They  have  not  readied 
the  point  where  they  supply  the  home  demand,  and  it  is  true  of  nearly 
all  those  States  that  the  development  of  mining  the  precious  and  use- 
ful metals  and  the  resulting  growth  of  the  home  demand  for  the  local 
food  supply  is  now  going  on  faster  than  the  extension  of  irrigation. 
Furthermore,  when  we  have  done  all  we  can  there  will  not  be  1<~'  per 
cent  of  the  territory  west  of  the  one  hundredth  meridian  and  east  of 
the  rainy  districts  on  the  Pacific  coast  that  can  ever  be  brought  under 
cultivation.  Either  there  is  not  the  water  or  it  is  not  available.  We 
can  never  make  use  of  but  a  small  fraction  of  the  Columbia,  it  is 
certain  we  can  never  utilize  all  of  the  Colorado,  and  it  is  doubtful  if 
we  can  ever  completely  use  the  Missouri 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Litchmax.  )  Have  you  gone  into  the  question  of  artesian 
wells? — A.  Yes;  I  know  something  about  artesian  wells. 

Q.  Would  it  be  true  if  the  land  were  irrigated,  as  yon  propose,  that 
a  given  quantity  of  stock  could  be  raised  on  a  less  area  of  land? — A. 
Oh,  yes;  I  think  so. 

Q.  And  would  not  the  limited  amount  of  land  as  suggested  by  you 
be  compensated  by  that  fact? — A.  Oh,  yes;  only  you  would  have  a 
great  many  more  people.  As  it  is  now  a  great  many  men  interested 
in  the  stock  business  will  occupy  50,000  or  100,000  acres  of  land  with 
Hocks  ami  herds.  This  plan  I  have  suggested  would  make  smaller 
no<-k>  and  herds  and  larger  farms. 

Q.  (  By  Mr.  A.  L.  Harris.)  Would  the  lease  >ystem  be  belter  than 
the  absolute  title? — A.  The  only  objection  to  the  disposal  of  the  public 


; 

it 


U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr.,  Bui.  105,  Office  of  Expt.  Stations.      Irrigation  Investigations. 


Plate  X. 


35 

lain!  by  absolute  title  would  be  thai  there  may  be  some  of  the  land 
so  disposed  of  for  grazing  purposes  which  is  irrigable.  I  should  say 
thai  the  better  plau  for  the  present  as  a  tentative  measure  would  be 

the  lease  system ;  perhaps  not  nil  imately,  bu1  simply  as  an  alternal  ive 
or  a  temporary  measure. 

().  How  long  would  you  have  the  Lease? — A.  Not  formore  than  five 
years,  and  I  would  have  every  tracl  of  land  Leased  remain  subjecl  to 
entry  under  the  public-land  laws  and  have  the  man  who  leased  it  take 
it  with  thai  condition.  I  would  not  restrict  the  operation  of  acquiring 
title  under  the  present  land  laws  at  all,  "but  would  leave  those  open 
even  on  leased  lands.  It  is  my  judgmenl  that  men  would  lease  land 
and  take  those  conditions;  that  is,  men  who  leased  land  would  know 
whether  or  not  a  homestead  or  a  desert-land  filing  can  be  made  on  it, 
and  it'  they  select  land  that  is  irrigable  and  subject  to  cultivation  they 
take  their  chances. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Farquhar.)  These  remarks  that  you  make  are  predi- 
cated on  the  fact  that  you  do  not  interfere  with  land  already  disposed 
of  under  the  pubiic-land  laws? — A.  Entirely. 

Q.  You  can  not  dispose  of  them  or  subdivide  them? — A.  No.  You 
see  there  are  between  300,000,000  and  400,000,000  acres  of  public  graz- 
ing lands.     My  plan  relates  entirely  to  that  land. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  A.  L.  Harris.)  The  earlier,  then,  some  steps  are  taken 
in  the  direction  of  a  general  plan  the  better? — A.  I  think  so. 

Q.  There  has  been  a  survey  of  a  portion  of  this  arid  country  by  the 
Federal  Government,  has  there  not? — A.  Nearly  all  the  country  is  now 
subdivided  by  the  general  surveys.  I  think  that  a  leasing  system 
could  be  inaugurated,  so  far  as  that  is  concerned,  without  any  addi- 
tional survey.  If  you  leave  the  lands  subject  to  entry  just  as  they 
are  now  there  is  no  need  of  discriminating  as  to  whether  the  lands 
are  agricultural  or  pasture;  they  are  open  to  entry  just  the  same  after 
they  are  leased  as  before  they  are  leased.  If  you  are  going  to  make 
the  lease  absolute,  so  that  when  a  man  leased  land  for  five  years  you 
could  not  file  on  it,  then  you  would  want  to  have  an  economic  survey, 
and  know  absolutely  what  were  irrigable  and  what  were  pasture  lands; 
but  if  you  do  not  make  it  absolute,  and  you  make  it  simply  conditional 
and  leave  it  to  the  man  who  leases,  then  if  he  does  not  want  to  be 
interfered  with,  to  go  outside  of  the  irrigable  territory  himself,  then 
it  would  not  make  any  difference. 

NATIONAL  AID  FOR  IRRIGATION. 

Q.  What  has  been  the  objection  heretofore  to  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment adopting  some  plan  of  irrigation? — A.  I  do  not  think  there  has 
been  any  objection,  except  that  in  the  East  there  has  been  a  feeling 
that  any  large  development  of  agricultural  lands  there  would  inter- 
fere with  the  prosperity  of  farmers  in  the  East;  that  has  been  one 
objection  outside  of  the  irrigated  territory.     And  there  has  been  a 


36 

question  as  to  whether  or  nol  this  was  a  matter  which  the  General 
Government  could  take  in  hand  withoul  transcending  the  limits  of 
the  Constitution.  That  relates  more,  however,  to  appropriations  of 
money  for  work.  There  can  be  considerable  Legislation  without  an 
appropriation  of  money  thai  will  very  materially  promote  successful 
development  and  which  can  properly  precede  appropriations  of  money 
or  the  determination  of  how  money  is  to  be  appropriated.  In  the 
West  there  lias  been,  and  will  be  until  this  matter  is  settled,  consid- 
erable discussion  about  the  best  means  of  extending  Government  aid, 
growing  out  of  the  sensitiveness  of  people  who  have  rights  to  any  dis- 
turbance of  those  rights.  Communities  have  buill  lip  their  systems 
under  local  laws  and  customs  and  have  become  wedded  to  thorn  and 
they  do  not  want  them  interfered  with.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is 
in  the  West  another  element  in  favor  of  turning  this  whole  matter 
over  to  the  National  Government  and  having  the  National  Govern- 
ment have  a  complete  system  of  laws  and  administration;  but  to  do 
that  will  necessitate  a  revolution  of  existing  systems. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Farquhar.)  It  seems  to  be  a  question,  does  it  not,  of 
artificial  development  through  irrigation  under  the  expenditure  of 
the  National  Government  and  the  natural  development  of  the  settle- 
ment of  the  country  through  the  present  land  laws  of  the  country  ? — 
A.  No,  not  that. 

Q.  Well,  how  is  it? — A.  It  is  a  question  between  stimulated  devel- 
opment under  national  aid  or  natural  development,  not  under  present 
land  laws,  but  under  laws  framed  to  meet  the  conditions  of  the  West- 
ern region. 

Q.  Whether  under  State  control  or  national  control  as  far  as  the 
land  is  concerned? — A.  Yes. 

Now,  there  is  going  to  come  a  time,  and  that  time  is  here  now,  when 
tht-re  will  have  to  be  an  expenditure  of  public  funds  in  order  to  secure 
certain  kinds  of  development.  There  are  rivers,  like  the  Missouri, 
from  which  I  do  not  believe  it  will  ever  pay  within  our  lifetime  to 
take  the  water,  because  it  will  cost  so  much  that  the  land  will  not  pay 
for  it.  Irrigated  land  and  the  value  of  irrigation  improvements  is 
measured  by  the  value  of  lands  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  or  the 
value  of  irrigated  lands  under  cheaper  works,  and  you  can  go  only 
just  so  far  with  private  enterprise.  Now,  there  are  projects  that 
would  pay  as  public  works,  perhaps,  because  in  bringing  land  that 
is  now  worthless  into  a  condition  of  productivity  you  create  homes; 
you  create  taxable  values  that  the  public  gets  the  benefit  from,  but 
that  the  private  investor  does  not  share  in,  and  there  is  the  argument 
in  favor  of  State  or  national  aid  to  certain  classes  of  important  works. 

(Recess  taken  until  the  following  day. ) 

Q.  (By  Mr.  A.  L.  Harris.)  Let" me  ask  this  question:  If  a  stream 
is  interstate  is  there  danger  of  conflict  of  authority  between  the 
St  ates  as  to  the  rights  of  water  ? — A.  Yes;  such  conflicts  have  already 


87 

arisen  and  they  arc  likely  to  arise  in  the  future,  although  the  impor- 
tance of  this  question  is  not  nearly  ^<»  greal  as  securing  a  proper 
division  of  water  between  users  inside  of  a  State.  The  lack  of  any 
law  to  determine  how  the  waters  of  an  interstate  stream  shall  be 
divided  is  only  one  instance  of  a  number  of  the  uncertainties  which 
now  exisl  regarding  the  limits  of  State  and  Federal  jurisdiction  over 
the  control  of  rivers.  There  arc  in  addition  the  conflicting  rights  of 
irrigation  and  navigation,  which  in  California  apply  to  rivers  wholly 
within  the  State's  borders.  Here  the  Government  looks  after  the 
rights  of  navigation  and  the  State  after  the  interests  of  the  irrigator. 
The  relative  rights  of  navigation  and  irrigation  have  been  raised  in 
litigation  over  the  waters  of  the  Jlio  Grande,  and  the  decision  of  the 
United  stales  Supreme  Courl  indicated  so  strong  a  tendency  toward 
maintaining  the  interests  of  navigation  as  to  give  rise  to  considerable 
apprehension  in  many  parts  of  the  West.  The  conditions  along  the 
Missouri  serve  to  show  why  this  is  true.  This  river  drains  a  Large 
part  of  the  country  easl  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and,  with  its  trib- 
utaries, is  the  main  dependence  of  Montana,  the  Dakotas,  Wyoming, 
Colorado,  Nebraska,  and  Kansas  for  the  water  used  in  irrigation.  If 
it  should  become  necessary  to  (dose  the  headgates  to  prevent  steam- 
boats from  running  aground  it  would  put  an  end.  to  all  hope  of  any 
considerable  increase  in  the  acreage  now  cultivated.  I  believe,  how- 
ever, that  this  is  a  theoretical  rather  than  a  practical  question,  since, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  the  tendency  of  irrigation  is  to  equalize  the 
discharge  of  streams,  reducing  the  floods  and  raising  the  low-water 
discharge,  its  extension  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Missouri  will  be  a 
help  to  steamboats  instead  of  an  injury.  It  has  been  found  that 
ditches  along  the  lower  end  of  a  stream  which  formerly  were  unable 
to  secure  any  water  in  July  now  have  an  ample  supply  the  season 
through,  because  of  the  increased  flow  from  seepage  and  percolating 
waters. 

INTERSTATE  WATER-RIGHT  COMPLICATIONS. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  A.  L.  Harris.)  Last  evening  when  we  took  a  recess 
you  were  about  to  take  up  the  consideration  of  the  Bear  River  coun- 
try.— A.  If  the  members  of  the  commission  will  take  Bulletin  Xo.  70 
and  the  map  at  the  front  (see  PL  XI),  it  will  serve  to  illustrate  the 
nature  of  some  of  the  interstate  complications.  Bear  River  rises 
in  Utah;  the  stream  Hows  across  the  northern  boundary  of  Utah  into 
Wyoming.  There  is  a  section  of  it  about  50  miles  long  in  Wyoming, 
and  then  it  crosses  back  on  the  western  border  of  that  State  into 
Utah  again.  There  is  a  section  of  25  or  :5<>  miles  in  Utah,  and  it 
crosses  back  into  Wyoming,  and  then  it  leaves  Wyoming  and  enters 
Idaho,  and  finally  returns  to  the  State  of  its  source.  Utah.  This 
winding  cuts  that  stream  into  five  different  sections,  and  there  are 
ditches  taken  out  of  the  stream  along  its  entire  course,  and  yet   each 


38 

one  of  those  sections  is  absolutely  independent  of  the  other.  Take 
the  two  sections  iii  the  Slate  of  Wyoming.  The  people  have  com- 
plied with  all  the  requirements  of  Hie  state  law.  They  have  recorded 
their  rights;  they  have  permits  to  appropriate  water,  and  the  doe- 
trine  of  priority  is  the  theory  of  the  State;  but  it  is  impossible  to 
enforce  that  doctrine  of  priority,  because  some  of  the  last  ditches  to 
be  buill  have  then-  headgates  just  over  the  border  in  Utah  and  the 
Wyoming  authorities  can  not  go  over  there  to  close  down  the  head- 
gates.  Consequently  those  people,  although  they  have  the  last 
ditches,  have  practically  the  first  right  to  the  stream.  In  the 
same  way  there  is  no  use  to  attempt  to  enforce  priorities  on  the 
upper  section  of  the  stream  in  Wyoming  in  favor  of  earlier  rights 
on  the  lower  section  in  Wyoming,  because  if  the  water  were  not  taken 
out  above  it  would  simply  go  into  Utah,  and  there  appropriators 
would  take  it  without  any  reference  to  Wyoming  rights.  Exactly  the 
same  thing  is  true  in  reference  to  the  improvement  of  Bear  Lake. 
There  is  an  important  storage  basin  that  the  irrigators  on  the  lower 
end  of  the  river  desired  to  develop;  but  they  were  confronted  by  the 
fact  that  if  they  did  store  the  water  and  turn  it  out  into  the  stream 
all  the  ditches  in  Idaho  would  have  the  first  chance  to  utilize  that 
water  supply,  and  they  would  have  no  means,  unless  it  was  recourse 
to  the  courts,  to  prevent  it.  Now,  if  we  had  been  aware  of  the  devel- 
opment that  was  coming,  we  could  have  avoided  all  those  complica- 
tions by  changing  the  boundary  about  10  miles.  So  far  as  Wyoming 
and  Utah  were  concerned,  it  would  have  thrown  the  whole  of  that 
stream  into  Utah.  There  are  a  great  many  instances  of  this  kind 
where  a  very  slight  change  of  State  boundaries,  having  them  follow 
divides,  would  have  entirely  obviated  interstate  questions;  but  as  it 
is  now  it  is  one  of  those  open,  unsolved  problems  that  will  in  time 
either  be  settled  in  the  courts  or  by  State  or  national  legislation. 

Q.  You  desired  to  make  some  reference  to  the  California  map. 
Have  you  that  at  hand? — A.  That  was  simply  to  illustrate.  We  have 
the  map  here,  but  I  think  we  have  gone  over  the  points.  I  may,  per- 
haps, in  speaking  of  the  extent  of  irrigation  and  the  restricted  areas 
that  are  irrigated  and  will  be  irrigated,  call  attention  to  one  of  the 
California  maps  here  that  shows  the  relative  area  irrigated  in  the 
leading  irrigation  State  of  the  country,  with  the  unirrigated  and 
uncultivated  portions.  The  purple  areas  there  are  the  areas  that  are 
irrigated. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Litchman.)  Appears  to  be  a  very  small  portion? — A. 
Very.     That  is  true  of  every  State  if  you  compare  the  total. 

IRRIGATION  IN  THE  HUMID  SECTIONS. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  A.  L.  Harris.)  Now,  you  will  please  take  up  the  humid 
parts  ot*  the  United  States. — A.  We  have  in  this  country  been  con- 
sidering  irrigation  as  a  sectional  matter,  and  it  never  will  have  the 


U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr.,  Bui.  105,  Office  of  Expt.  Stations      Irrigation  Investigations. 


Plate  XI. 


Map  of  Bear  River,  Showing  Location  of  Ditches  and  irrigated  Land. 


39 

importance  in  the  Eas1  thai  il  has  in  the  West.  But  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  thai  irrigation  is  to  be  largely  employed  throughout 
the  humid  portion  of  the  United  States  in  the  growing  of  high-priced 
and  special  products.  The  work  done  in  Connecticut,  Massachusetts, 
and  New  Jersey  shows  thai  in  the  growing  <>t'  small  fruits  irrigation  is 
exceedingly  profitable,  and  in  markel  gardening  il  is  now  being  largely 
utilized.  The  cranberry  growers  of  Wisconsin  and  the  farmers  in  the 
sandy  pine  lands  of  the  Northwest  are  beginning  to  utilize  irrigation 
as  a  means  of  getting  crops  started,  of  getting  a  sod  established  on 
those  sandy  lands;  and  there  seems  reason  to  believe  thai  there  will 
be  quite  extensive  stretches  of  territory  scattered  through  the  humid 
districts  where  irrigation  will  be  very  Largely  employed.  The  market 
gardeners  around  our  large  cities  in  the  East  and  the  tobacco  growers 
of  Connecticut  are  using  irrigation  to  some  extent  in  the  growing  of 
fancy  varieties;  and  in  the  South  irrigation  seems  certain  to  have  a 
very  large  usefulness.  In  the  past  five  years  more  land  lias  been 
brought  under  irrigation  in  southern  Louisiana  ami  southern  Texas 
than  in  any  single  State  of  the  arid  region  within  that  period,  and  there 
has  been  more  money  invested.  Not  only  thai,  but  in  its  engineering 
features  irrigation  in  these  States  is  entirely  distinct  from  that  of  the 
irrigation  of  the  arid  regions.  Now,  in  the  arid  regions  water  is  con- 
ducted by  gravity.  You  have  a  rapid  fall  away  from  the  mountains 
which  carries  the  water  through  the  canals  and  away  from  the  streams. 
But  in  the  South  the  streams  have  little  or  no  fall.  They  are  simply 
reservoirs  with  the  water  in  them  practically  stationary.  You  have 
to  pump  water  up  into  canals,  and  then  it  flows  v^vy  slowly,  because 
the  country  has  so  little  fall.  So  canals  are  built  there  that  are  simply 
banked  reservoirs.  Instead  of  a  channel  cut  below  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  two  banks  are  built,  sometimes  200  feet  apart.  Now,  the 
canal  is  the  land  between  those  two  banks.  The  banks  could  just  as 
well  be  400  feet  apart. 

The  width  of  the  canal  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  cost. 
These  long  lines  of  embankment  will  be  built  ami  the  water  pumped 
up  from  the  river  into  the  canal.  Now,  turning  water  out  at  differ- 
ent points  causes  the  current ;  it  is  the  inclinat  ion  of  the  water  surface 
rather  than  the  inclination  of  the  land.  Now,  in  order  to  reach  a 
higher  territory,  they  establish  at  convenient  points  other  pumping 
stations  and  raise  the  water  up  to  a  higher  level.  This  method  of 
irrigation  has  been  extended  until  now  the  country  embraced  is  about 
200  miles  in  length  and  about  50  miles  wide.  U  is  not  all  irrigated 
now,  but  that  is  the  total  area  in  which  irrigation  is  being  extend  'd. 

The  first  canals  were  taken  out  of  the  sluggish  streams  that  flow 
into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico;  but  when  the  importance  or  the  value  of  the 
rice  product  became  established  and  lands  rose  in  value  from  x-*>  to 
|50  and  -spin  an  acre,  it  became  manifest  that  those  streams  would 
not   supply  the  need  of  water,  and  the  farmers  began  looking  about 


40 

for  other  sources  of  supply.  They  found  one  by  putting  down  wells, 
so  thai  the  pumping  stations  to  supply  water  from  the  rivers  are 
being  supplemented  largely  now  by  wells,  Hundreds  of  wells  are 
going  down  throughout  thai  portion  of  Louisiana  where  rice  is  grown, 
and  this  year  a  study  is  being  made  to  determine  the  source  of  that 
water  supply.  If  the  subsoil  is  simply  filled  with  water  and  it  can 
be  pumped  out,-i1  will  soon  be  exhausted;  bu1  there  is  abellef  thai  it 
is  being  reenforced  from  the  Mississippi.  Thar  was  a  conjecture  at 
the  time  I  was  there,  bul  a  study  is  being  made  to  ascertain  if  it  is 
true.  IT  Lt  be  true,  there  will  be  a  capacity  for  indefinite  extension 
of  the  supply  by  wells. 

The  success  of  rice  growing  there,  after  the  longperiod  in  which  we 
had  been  continually  shrinking  in  our  rice  production,  has  led  to 
increased  interest  in  rice  growing  along-  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  For 
years  the  rice  growing  there,  if  not  unprofitable,  has  not  been  suffi- 
ciently profitable  to  lead  to  any  extension.  In  fact  there  has  been 
a  constant  decline.  Old  canals  in  use  long  before  the  war  were 
going  out  of  operation;  but  the  industry  is  now  being  "extended,  and 
the  question  now  is  whether  the  Louisiana  method  can  be  adopted. 

Rice  cultivation  in  the  Carolinas  is  largely  after  the  methods  pre- 
vailing before  the  war.  The  crop  is  harvested  by  hand — cut  with  the 
sickle  and  bound  by  hand.  The  reason  it  is  so  much  more  successful 
in  Louisiana  is  the  application  of  modern  machinery.  The  crops 
there  are  cut  with  a  self-binder.  There  have  been  economies  brought 
into  the  field  labor,  and  the  methods  of  applying  and  distributing 
water  are  patterned  after  those  of  the  West  rather  than  those  of  the 
Carolinas.  There  is  an  economy  in  the  distribution  of  water,  and 
there  is  another  very  marked  economy  in  the  harvesting  of  the  crop. 
An  industry  that  was  not  before  remunerative  has  been  made  exceed- 
ingly profitable. 

The  southern  territory  is  also  likely  to  develop  irrigation  in  the 
growing  of  forage  crops.  Alfalfa  grows  in  the  South.  It  will  not 
grow  in  the  middle  East;  it  freezes  out  in  the  winter  and  does  not 
seem  to  thrive,  but  it  will  grow  and  live  through  the  winter  and 
become  a  perennial  in  Louisiana.  There  seems  to  be  quite  a  field  for 
the  use  of  irrigation  in  the  growth  of  alfalfa  and  other  forage  crops 
in  the  South  wherever  you  can  get  water  at  a  sufficiently  low  cost. 

Now,  the  same  questions  arise  in  the  East,  where  development  has 
gone  far  enough,  that  have  arisen  in  the  "West.  In  the  South  the 
question  has  come  up  between  the  different  canals  as  to  who  has  the 
better  right  to  the  water  supply  if  more  water  is  needed  than  the  wells 
will  supply.  In  time  some  system  of  priorities  will  have  to  be  estab- 
lished there.  They  will  have  to  determine  how  they  are  going  to 
operate  under  the  doctrine  of  riparian  rights.  That  is  an  unsettled 
question  there  as  yet,  just  as  it  is  in  the  West.  On  one  of  the  streams 
last   year  so  much  water  was  pumped  out  that  the  river  changed  its 


U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr.,  Bui.  105,  Office  of  Expt.  Stations.     Irrigation  Investigations.  PLATE   XII. 


Fig.  1.— Wasteway  and  Gageby  Arroyo,  Great  Plains  Water  Company. 


Fig.  2.— Outlet  Conduit  No.  2,  Great  Plains  Water  Company 


41 

direction  and  ran  upstream  for  a  distance  of  50  miles.  The  current 
changed  and  ran  back,  and  salt  water  came  in  from  the  Gulf  and 
ruined  the  usefulness  of  the  pumps  in  the  stations  farthest  down- 
stream. Those  are  matters  that  will  require  adjustment.  If  there 
should  be  in  the  East  any  considerable  demand  on  the  streams,  the 
right  to  take  water  from  Eastern  streams  will  be  called  in  question; 
so  that  t  he  economic  and  Legal  phases  of  irrigal  i<>n  have  already  ceased 
to  be  sectional. 

Now,  there  is  a  very  large  district,  peaching  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
to  the  Canadian  border,  embracing  western  Texas,  west<  rn  Kansas, 
western  Nebraska,  and  the  western  Dakotas,  which  were  first  settled 
up  in  their  humid  parts.  They  were  settled  up  quite  sufficiently  in 
the  western  arid  or  semiarid  parts  bo  render  irrigation  problems 
important.  They  are  in  some  respects  among  the  best  parts  of  the 
arid  region,  because  ditches  there  can  be  built  at  small  cost.  It  is  a 
country  well  adapted  to  the  distribution  of  water,  and  only  a  compar- 
atively small  amount  of  water  is  required  to  supplement  the  rainfall. 
As  you  go  farther  west,  if  yon  have  only  10  inches  of  rainfall  and 
increased  evaporation,  yon  must  supply  more  moisture  by  irrigation 
than  where  you  have  20  inches  of  rainfall  and  less  evaporation;  so  a 
given  amount  of  water  will  irrigate  more  acres  there  than  farther 
west. 

Iu  this  central  region  we  have  two  questions.  In  the  Dakotas  it  is 
very  expensive  to  bring  water  from  the  Missouri  River,  and  in 
Nebraska  we  have  the  uncertainty  at  the  present  time  regarding  the 
State  law.  Nebraska  is  comparatively  well  supplied  with  water.  The 
North  Platte  is  a  stream  that  can  not  be  utilized  to  any  great  extent 
in  the  west.  The  Loupe  is  a  good  stream;  and  they  have  in  these 
two  rivers  an  opportunity  for  a  very  large  development.  As  you  go 
south  of  that  the  difficulty  in  Kansas  is  the  question  as  to  the  extent 
of  the  underflow  and  whether  it  is  practicable  to  get  some  means  of 
pumping  it  up. 

When  you  go  south  into  Texas  you  have  still  a  different  question. 
In  southern  Texas  there  is  a  considerable  territory  that  can  be  irri- 
gated from  springs  and  wells,  and  also  all  the  way  through  Arizona 
and  New  Mexico. 

FILLING  OF  RESERVOIRS  BY  SILT. 

A  great  many  streams  are  torrential  in  character,  carrying  an 
immense  flow  of  water  and  then  running  down  to  nothing.  You 
must  store  these  streams  in  order  to  make  much  use  of  their  waters, 
and  the  problem  of  storage  is  a  complicated  one.  It  involves  the 
question  of  the  sediment  in  these  Southern  streams — the  silt.  It  is 
disastrous  to  build  a  reservoir  in  the  channel  of  a  river,  and,  when 

L you  have  a  large  investment  in  houses  and  people  settled  there,  to 
have  it  till  up  and  necessitate  these  settlers  moving  out.     It  is  simply 


42 

a  waste  of  energy  and  a  waste  of  money.  Thai  isa  question  thai  the 
Department  of  Agriculture  is  studying,  and  arrangements  have  been 
made  with  the  agricultural  college  of  Texas  to  gather  samples  from 
these  streams  and  sec  what  would  be  the  probable  result  of  letting 
the  mud  they  carry  deposit  on  the  soil. 

Q.  Does  evaporation  go  on  so  rapidly  in  some  portions  of  the 
country  that  it  would  Leave  the  reservoir  salty? — A.  The  total  evapo- 
ration from  the  water  surface  in  the  West  ranges  from  3  to  6  inches 
per  month.  Where  the  waters  of  the  river  itself  are  heavily  charged 
with  alkaline  salts  this  evaporation  will  so  concentrate  them  as  to 
make  it  injurious;  but  there  are  very  few  instances  of  that  kind.  The 
only  one  that  I  know  of  personally  is  the  Pecos  River,  and  I  think 
that  action  only  occurred  in  one  season.  I  do  not  think  that  would 
be  a  very  important  question.  The  streams  carry  so  little  alkali  in 
the  portion  of  the  country  where  the  water  is  stored  that  the  accumu- 
lation would  not  amount  to  much.  Then  the  water  is  discharged 
every  year  and  there  is  no  cumulative  action.  It  is  only  the  concen- 
tration that  would  take  place  in  a  single  season. 

(Testimony  closed.) 


APPENDIX. 


Exhibit  A. 

Water  right . 
Fresno  Canal  and  Irrigation  Company. 

[Incorporated  February  li>,  1871] 

Fresno,  Fresno  County,  Cal. 

This  agreement,  made  the  day  of  ,  18 — .  between  the  Fresno  Canal 

and  Irrigation  Company,  the  party  of  the  first  part,  and .  the  part — 

of  the  second  part,  witnesseth: 

That  for  and  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of  dollars,  gold  coin  of  the 

United  States,  paid  to  the  party  of  the  first  part  by  the  part—  of  the  second  part, 
the  receipt  whereof  is  hereby  acknowledged,  and  of  the  covenants  and  agreements 
herein  contained,  the  party  of  the  first  part  agrees  to  furnish  to  the  part —  of  the 
second  part,  from  the  main  canal  of  the  party  of  the  first  part,  or  from  a  branch 

thereof,  all  the  water  that  may  be  required,  not  exceeding  at  any  time cubic 

per  second,  for  the  purpose  of  irigating  the ,  in  Township  No. 

south,  range  No. east  of  Mount  Diablo  meridian,  from  the  day  of 

.  19—,  until  the  16th  day  of  February,  1921,  and  during  the  existence  of  said 

corporation. 

The  party  of  the  first  part  agrees  to  place  a  suitable  box  or  gate  in  the  bank  of 
said  main  canal,  or  a  branch  thereof,  at  the  most  convenient  point  for  the  convey- 
ance of  the  water  to  said  land,  as  soon  as  the  di;ch  to  be  constructed  by  the  part — 
of  the  second  part  shall  be  commenced. 

The  part—  of  the  second  part  will  construct  a  ditch  from  said  box  or  gate  to  said 

land  at own  risk,  cost,  and  expense;  and  it  is  covenanted  and  agreed  that  the 

ditch  so  constructed  may  be  a  branch  ditch  of -said  company,  and  be  under  the  con- 
trol thereof,  at  its  option,  and  that  said  company  shall  have  the  right  to  use  and 
enlarge  said  ditch,  provided  such  use  will  not  interfere  with  the  flow  of  water  to 

said  land;  and  the  part —  of  the  second  part  hereby  grant to  the  party  of  the 

fiist  part  the  right  of  way  to  convey  water  through  any  of lands  situated  in 

said  township  to  contiguous  land. 

The  part —  of  the  second  part  covenant —  and  agree—  that will  not  use  or 

permit  the  water  to  be  used  on  any  other  land  except  the  land  above  descril  • 
permit  the  water  to  run  off  on  any  contiguous  land,  or  permit  the  water  to  spread 
out  in  low  place-  on  such  land,  or  in  any  way  to  run  to  waste,  and will  con- 
struct ditches  to  convey  the  surplus  water,  if  any  there  be,  back  into  the  canal  of 
said  company,  or  a  branch  thereof. 

It  is  understood  and  agreed  that  the  water  to  be  furnished  under  this  agreement 

is  intended  to  form  a  part  of  the  appurtenances  to  said  land,  and  the  right  thereto 

shall  be  transferable  only  with  and  run  with  said  land,  and  that  the  party  of  the 

first  part  is  bound  by  this  instrument  to  all  subsequent  owners  of  said  land,  but 

to  no  other  person. 

43 


44 

The  part —  of  the  second  part,  for , heirs,  and  assigns,  covenant — 

and  agree —  that and  — * successors  in  interest  and  estate  in  said  land 

will  pay  annually  to  the  party  of  the  first  part,  at  its  office,  in  gold  coin  of  the 
United  States,  on  the  first  .Monday  in  September,  in  each  year,  until  the  year  1920, 

and  during  the  existence  of  said  corporation,  the  sum  of  dollars  ($ ), 

and  this  instrument  shall  be  deemed  equivalent  to  a  notice  and  demand  on  the 
day  the  same  becomes  due,  by  the  terms  hereof,  and  in  case  of  default  of  such 
payment  in  any  one  year  for  the  space  of  30  days  after  it  shall  become  due,  this 
agreement  shall  terminate,  and  become  thenceforth  null  and  void  and  of  no  effect, 
at  the  option  of  the  party  of  the  first  part,  its  successors,  or  assigns.     And  said 

part —  of  the  second  part  covenant — .  for . heirs,  and  assigns,  that 

will  pay  all  legal  expenses,  including  a  reasonable  attorney's  fee,  necessarily 
incurred  by  said  party  of  the  first  part  in  the  collection  of  said  annual  payment. 

And  it  is  further  covenanted  that  the  party  of  the  first  part  may  shut  off  the 
water  any  fall,  for  purposes  of  general  or  special  repairs  of  its  canals,  bulkheads, 
or  gates,  and  at  such  other  times  as  urgent  necessity  may  require;  but  shall  restore 
the  water  in  said  canals  as  speedily  as  the  nature  of  the  ca>e  will  permit. 

It  is  covenanted  and  agreed  by  the  parties  hereto  that  the  party  of  the  first  part 
shall  not  be  responsible  for  deficiency  of  water  caused  by  drought,  insufficient 
water  in  the  river,  hostile  diversion  or  obstruction,  forcible  entry,  temporary  dam- 
age by  flood,  or  other  accident;  but  that  the  party  of  the  first  part  shall  use  and 
employ  all  due  diligence  at  all  times,  in  restoring  and  protecting  the  flow  of  water 
in  its  canals  and  ditches. 

It  is  understood  and  agreed  that  the  party  of  the  first  part  may  sell  1.000  water 
rights  of  1  cubic  foot  each,  and  if  at  any  time  the  aggregate  quantity  of  water 
in  the  canals  of  said  company  shall  fall  short  of  1,000  cubic  feet  flowing  per  second 
then  each  water  right  shall  represent  the  one-thousandth  part  of  said  aggregate 
quantity,  and  the  part —  of  the  second  part  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  water  in 
that  proportion. 

It  is  covenanted  that  this  agreement  and  the  covenants  therein  contained  on  the 
part  of  the  part—  of  the  second  part  run  with  and  bind  the  land. 

It  is  covenanted  that  any  violation  of  this  agreement  by  the  part — of  the  second 

part  or assigns  shall  render  this  agreement  null  and  void  and  of  no  effect,  at 

the  option  of  the  party  of  the  first  part,  its  successors  or  assigns. 

In  witness  whereof  the  parties  hereto  have  hereunto  interchangeably  set  their 
hands  and  seals,  the  day  and  year  first  in  this  agreement  written. 

Executed  in  duplicate. 

The  Fresno  Canal  and  Irrigation  C<>., 

[seal.]  By ,  President. 

The  Fresno  Canal  and  Irrigation  Co., 

[seal.]  By ,  Secretary. 


Exhibit  B. 

Agreement  for  water  right  in  the  Larimer  County  Ditch. 

I.  This  agreement  made  this day  of ,  in  the  year  188 — .  between  the 

Larimer  County  Ditch  Company,  a  corporation  existing  under  the  laws  of  Colorado. 

as  the  first  party,  and .of  the  county  of and  State  of .  as 

the  second  party,  witnesseth: 

II.  That  in  consideration  of  the  stipulations  herein  contained  and  the  payments 
to  be  made  as  hereinafter  specified,  the  first  party  hereby  agrees  to  sell  unto  the 

second  party water  right —  to  the  use  of  water  flowing  through  the  ditch  of 

said  company,  each  water  right  representing  one  six-hundredth  part  of  the  capacity 


45 

of  said  ditch  i  Less  an  amount  from  racfa  total  capacity  sufficient  to  water  80  acres), 
subject  to  the  terms  and  conditions  herein  specified,  to  which  the  Ba  d  second  party, 
heir-  or  assigns,  hereby  expressly  agree. 

III.  Said  company  agrees  to  continue  said  ditch  on  a  suitable  grade  to  a  point 

not  less  than  6  miles  on  the  line  of  said  ditch  after  crossing  Box  Elder  Creek, 
having  a  width  on  tin  bottom  of  not  less  than  10  feet,  and  a  depth  of  not  less  than 

1  feet  from  bottom  to  top  of  lower  bank,  such  extension  to  be  completed  on  or 
before  May  15,  iss::. 

IV.  Said  company  agrees  to  incur  all  the  expense  of  building  said  ditch  and 
extension,  of  the  dimensions  hereinbefore  specified,  without  any  assessment  on 
purchasers  of  water  rights  for  such  purpose. 

V.  Said  company  will  enlarge  said  ditch  and  its  extension  when  it  shall  deem 
expedient. 

VI.  Said  company  agrees  to  furnish  said  water  to  the  second  party, heirs 

or  assigns,  continuously  during  the  irrigating  season,  except  as  hereinafter  pro- 
vided, and  at  no  other  time. 

VII.  Said  water  shall  be  used  only  for  domestic  purposes,  and  to  irrigate  the 
following  described  tract  of  land,  and  none  other,  to  wit: 


VIII.  Under  no  circumstances  shall  said  water  or  any  portion  thereof  be  used 
for  mining,  milling,  or  mechanical  power,  or  for  any  purpose  not  directly  connected 
with  or  incidental  to  the  purposes  first  herein  mentioned. 

IX.  Said  second  party, heirs,  or  assigns,  shall  not  permit  sa-.d  water,  or 

any  portion  thereof,  furnished  as  aforesaid,  to  run  to  waste,  but  as  soon  as  a  suffi- 
cient quantity  shall  have  been  used  for  the  purpose  herein  allowed  and  contracted 

for.  the  second  party. heirs,  or  assigns,  shall  shut  off  said  water,  and  keep 

the  same  shut  and  turned  off'  until  the  same  shall  be  again  needed  for  the  purposes 
aforesaid:  but  in  no  case  shall  the  amount  of  said  water  taken  or  received  by  the 
second  party. heirs  or  assigns,  exceed  the  quantity  hereby  sold. 

X.  Said  company  shall  deliver  said  water  at  such  point  along  the  line  of  the 
said  ditch,  or  from  any  of  its  reservoirs,  either  or  all,  as  it  may  determine  from 
time  to  time  to  be  the  most  practicable,  and  all  headgates.  and  the  manner  of 
withdrawing  and  regulating  the  supply  of  water  from  said  company's  ditch  and 
reservoirs,  shall  be  prescribed  by  the  said  company,  and  shall  at  all  times  be  under 
its  control  as  determined  and  directed  by  the  board  of  trustees  of  said  company. 

XI.  The  headgate  or  gates  through  which  the  water  hereby  sold  shall  be  drawn 
off  shall  be  made  and  placed  by  said  company,  and  the  cost  thereof,  and  for  keep- 
ing the  same  in  repair,  shall  be  paid  for  by  the  said  second  party,  and  be  collected 
and  enforced  in  the  same  manner  as  prescribed  for  collecting  and  enforcing  assess- 
ments. 

XII.  Said  company  agrees  to  keep  and  maintain  said  ditch  and  any  and  all  of  its 
reservoirs  in  good  order  and  condition,  and  in  case  of  accident  to  the  same  to  repair 
the  injury  occasioned  by  said  accident  as  soon  as  practicable  and  expedient:  and  the 
company  shall  have  a  right  to  assess  for  said  maintenance,  and  the  cost  of  enlarging 
said  ditch,  and  enlarging  any  and  all  reservoirs,  either  owned  or  operated  by  it,  and 
repairing,  maintaining,  and  superintending  the  same,  a  sum  equal  to  one  six- 
hundredth  part  per  water  right  sold  of  such  cost,  per  annum,  and  the  amount, 
manner  of  collection,  and  time  of  payment  of  said  assessments  shall  be  deter- 
mined by  said  company  according  to  its  judgment  and  discretion:  and  the  com- 
pany also  reserves  to  itself  the  right  to  establish  and  enforce  such  rules  and 
regulations,  and  to  provide  and  declare  such  penalties  and  forfeitures  as  it  may 


46 


deem  necessary  or  expedient  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  and  collecting  said 
aes<  Bsment,  or  any  part  thereof. 

XIII.  When  saidcompan}*  shall  have  sold,  and  have  outstanding  and  in  force.  600 
water  rights,  of  a  size  and  amount  each  as  specified  herein  (or  sooner,  at  the  option 
of  the  company),  it  will  then  issue  and  deliver  to  the  holder  of  each  water  right,  who 
shal  1  have  complied  with  the  terms  and  conditions  of  this  contract,  without  further 
consideration,  one  share  of  the  stock  of  said  company  and  also  one  share  of  the  stock 
of  the  Larimer  County  Reservoir  Company  for  every  water  right  here  by  sold,  which 
the  second  party, heirs  or  assigns,  hereby  agree  to  accept. 

XIV.  Said  company  shall  have  the  right  to  distribute  such  water  as  may  flow 
through  said  ditch  (less  said  amount  sufficient  to  irrigate  SO  acres)  to  the  holders  of 
such  water  rights,  pro  rata,  and  for  the  purpose  of  bo  doingmay  establish  and  enforce 
such  rules  and  regulations  as  it  may  deem  necessary  or  expedient. 

XV.  And  the  second  party  for and heirs  and  assigns  agree — 

in  consideration  aforesaid,  to  waive,  and  hereby  does  waive  any  claim  for  loss  or 
damage  by  reason  of  any  leakage  or  overflow  of  said  ditch,  or  any  of  its  reser- 
voirs, lakes,  or  laterals,  either  upon  the  land  afcresaid  or  any  other  tract  belong- 
ing to  said  second  party  or assigns,  anything  in  any  statute,  law,  or  custom 

to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

XVI.  In  consideration  whereof  the  second  party  agrees  to  pay  unto  the  first 

party  the  sum  of dollars,  with  interest,  payable  annually,  at  the  rate  of  12 

per  cent  per  annum,  at  the  office  of  the  first  party  in  Fort  Collins,  Colo.,  in 

payments,  at  the  times  and  in  the  manner  following,  that  is  to  say: 


Day.     Month.      Year 


Principal 


Interest. 


Amount. 


Remarks. 


First  payment.. 
Second  payment 
Third  payment. 
Fourth  payment 
Fifth  payment.. 


And  the  second  party,  in  consideration  of  the  premises,  hereby  agrees  that 

will  make  punctual  payment  of  the  above  sums  as  each  of  the  same,  respectively, 

becomes  due,  and  that will  regularly  and  seasonably  pay  all  assessments  that 

may  hereafter  be  imposed  by  said  company  for  the  purposes  aforesaid. 

XVII.  And  it  is  hereby  agreed  and  covenanted  by  the  parties  hereto  that  time 
and  punctuality  are  material  and  essential  ingredients  to  this  contract.  And  in 
case  the  second  party  shall  fail  to  make  the  payments  aforesaid,  and  each  of  them 
punctually,  and  upon  the  strict  terms  and  times  above  limited,  and  likewise  to 
observe,  perform,  and  complete  all  and  each  of  said  agreements  and  stipulations 
aforesaid,  strictly  and  literally,  without  any  failure  or  default,  then  this  contract, 
so  far  as  it  may  bind  said  first  party,  shall  become  utterly  null  and  void,  and  all 
rights  and  interests  hereby  created  or  then  existing  in  favor  of  the  second  party, 

or  derived  from ,  shall  utterly  cease  and  determine,  and  all  equitable  and 

legal  interest  in  the  water  right  hereby  contracted  to  be  conveyed  shall  revert  to 
and  revest  in  said  first  party,  without  any  declaration  of  forfeiture,  or  any  other 
act  of  said  first  party  to  be  performed,  and  without  any  right  of  said  second  party 
of  reclamation  or  compensation  for  moneys  paid  or  services  performed,  as  abso- 
lutely, fully,  and  perfectly  as  if  this  contract  had  never  been  made.  And  it  is 
further  stipulated  that  no  assignment  of  the  premises  shall  be  valid  unless  the 
same  shall  be  indorsed  hereon,  and  that  no  agreements  or  conditions  or  relations 

between  the  second  party  and assignee,  or  any  other  person  acquiring  title  or 

interest  from  or  through shall  preclude  the  first  party  from  the  right  to  con- 
vey the  premises  to  the  second  party,  or  assigns,  on  the  surrender  of  this 


47 

agreement  and  the  payment  of  the  unpaid  portion  of  the  purchase  money  which 
may  be  due  the  first  party. 

XVIII.  It  is  further  expressly  understood  and  agreed  between  the  parties  hereto 
that  neither  this  contract  nor  any  of  its  terms,  conditions,  or  provisions  shall  bein 
an\  manner  supplemented,  altered,  or  changed  from  what  has  been  provided,  or  any 
ether  or  further  contract  he  made  respecting  the  Bubject-matter  of  this  contract. 
except  that  it  he  indorsed  hereon  in  writing,  signed  by  the  presidenl  and  att< 

by  the  secretary,  under  the  corporate  seal  of  said  company. 

XIX.  It  is  also  stipulated  and  agreed  that  from  and  after  the  execution  hereof  t  he 
said  second  party  may  enter  into  the  use  and  enjoyment  of  the  water  flowing  through 
said  ditch  to  the  extent  of  the  right  above  contracted  to  be  conveyed,  as  fully  as 
though  a  final  certificate  for  said  right  had  been  issued,  but  subject,  nevertheless, 
to  all  the  terms  and  conditions  above  set  forth. 

XX.  In  witness  whereof  the  Larimer  County  Ditch  Company  has  caused  its  cor- 
porate name  to  be  hereunto  subscribed  by  its  president,  and  its  corporate  s  al  to 
be  hereunto  affixed  by  its  secretary,  as  well  as  to  a  duplicate  hereof,  and  the  second 

party subscribed name—  and  affixed seal —  hereto,  as  well  as  to  a 

duplicate  hereof,  the  day  and  year  first  above  written. 


By 


,  President. 

-.       [SEAL.] 

•.     [seal.] 


Attested  by — 

,  Secretary. 

[Forms  for  assignment  and  for  acknowledging  receipt  of  each  payment  are  printed 
on  the  reverse  side.] 


r 


UNIVERSITY  OF  FLORIDA 

HUH  lllll 

3  1262  08927  8864 


